Madman Muntz and TV

[Dave Wilton]

Wikipedia has WBKB-TV in Chicago adopted those call letters on 6 September
1946, a little bit earlier.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Benjamin Zimmer
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 7:44 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Madman Muntz and TV

On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
>        I'm inclined to think that myself, especially in light of the
> apparent lack of contemporary references supporting his claim.  It is
> true, however, that Earl Muntz was an early user of the term.  He seems
> to have gotten into the television set manufacturing business in 1946,
> with his first sales in 1947.  The term "TV" has been traced back to
> 1947, according to M-W.  A use before that date would throw his claim
> into serious question; a use before 1946 would seem to disprove it.  Can
> anyone beat those dates?

WCBS-TV has had those call letters since Nov. 1, 1946, according to
Wikipedia. I'd imagine that and other similar station names had a big
influence on the use of "TV".


--Ben Zimmer

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org