In pool, what is meant when a person puts "English" on a ball, and from where did this term come?

The expression “putting English” on a ball is used in tennis, golf, soccer, and baseball and means you’ve spun and curved the ball to overcome a problem.

The expression comes from English snooker, a pool game where one of the main strategies is to block an opponent from having a straight line shot at a ball he must hit.

To do this, the shooter will create a spin on his shot to circumvent the obstruction.

This spin is called “putting English on it.”

http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/what-does-putting-english-on-it-when-spinning-a-ball-mean-and-where-did-the-expression-come-from

So, the term "English" comes from the game English snooker.

Here is a video clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVDQkcDX88g&NR=1

Here's an interesting twist -- No pun intended:

"English" comes from "body English," the contortions a thrower/roller/hitter goes through after the ball has left the hand/club/cue. These motions are called body English because they relate to the physical gestures we employ when we speak. Which is differentiated from "body language," emotions communicated through posture rather than gesture.

So, while "body English" is what we do after the ball is in motion, the term "English" is reserved to describe motion actually put on the ball by its spin. What do the English call "English"? "Side." As in "Don't hit it in the center, hit in on the ..." Sometimes the English make sense, even if "English" doesn't.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1634/whats-the-origin-of-english-the-kind-you-put-on-a-ball

I'm still confused.

I'm also confused. I have never heard the now world-wide game of snooker being called 'English Snooker' for one thing. There are other English games (cricket, golf, lawn bowls. table tennis for example) that involve making a ball take a curving path, in most of which it is done far more frequently than in snooker (inadvertently at golf in my case!).