OED/business

[Wilson Gray]

This may not add much to the discussion, but, FWIW, "management" has
been used for "business administration" for over a half-century. One
of my brothers holds a "Master of Management" degree from the Naval
Postgraduate School, earned in 1965. That was the first time that I
had ever heard of simple "Management" used to describe a degree
program. Probably merely a coincidence. When my alma mater, UC Davis,
opened its business school, it was named the "School of Management"
and no one reacted as though this term was anything new, though,
again, that use was a first for me.

-Wilson

On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 12:19 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Subject:      OED/business
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> While following up on Joel Berson's post on "trip" (yes, there is
> something to follow up on), I was puzzled that the the meaning of "trip"
> 3. was restricted to /short/ journeys. Certainly when someone say
> /today/ that (s)he's going on a trip, there is no reason to believe that
> this trip will be short. In fact, it probably requires a qualifier to
> communicate that particular aspect. So, I thought, what's the
> prototypical use of "trip" today? It's not a trip to the country, it
> might be a trip to visit someone--but that almost sounds old-fashioned
> or quaint. There are just so many options to describe the destination
> more precisely, e.g., "I'm going on vacation to...". But there is one
> use that, to me, is ubiquitous--business trip. And it no longer means a
> day-trip to the other part of town--business trip is serious business
> that often requires substantial travel. So, does the OED have "business
> trip" under /any/ heading? The answer is "no". But more on "trips" later.
>
> That got me looking through "business". And was struck by the sense that
> one of the contemporary, normal uses of "business" is simply not
> there--just like a general, not short, trip is not there. The span of
> occupations that includes some clerical jobs, low to middle management,
> investment banking and venture capital, etc., are generically referred
> to as "business" and the people that are occupied in these positions
> (although these tend to be a bit higher in the food chain, owners and
> executives) are businessmen, businesswomen, business persons and
> business people (spelling varies on all four). Of these latter four,
> there is a separate draft entry for "business person" and a mention of
> "business man" == "man of business" under compounds. But the current
> common spelling, it seems is as one word, not two, and I've never seen
> the hyphenated version that seems to be transitional in similar
> situations. So the draft PC entry "business person" paradoxically stands
> alone in this line of business.
>
> OK, what about the more academic approach? A common US college
> major--or, for that mater, a professional program--is "business
> administration", as in "Master of Business Administration", or, MBA. Is
> that in the OED? Well, no. An alternative degree moniker is "business
> and management"--there is a combination "business management", but
> that's almost beside the point (although this did make me wonder if
> "businessman" was really short for "business manager" rather than "man
> of business"). Both sets of degree programs are commonly referred to as
> "business", as in "I'm majoring in business". OED? Silent.
>
> A quick look in OneLook (without even browsing the links from individual
> dictionaries) gives a number of meanings that are /not/ in the OED, but
> the three I am generally concerned with above are:
>
>> business concerns collectively ("Government and business could not agree")
>
> and
>
>> a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
>> ("He bought his brother's business")
>
> and
>
>> the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and
>> commercial and industrial aspects ("Computers are now widely used in
>> business")
>
> There is also this:
>> customers collectively
>
> In fact, none of the three examples listed would fit under any existing
> OED sub-entries.And it is generally these that are involved in "business
> trip", although there is also some overlap with "away on business" (this
> sense is covered in the OED article, but not the specific expression,
> which is fine with me).
>
> But my overall impression is that the entries for both "trip" and
> "business" are--how shall I put it?--archaic. They seem to be more of
> anthropological interest--which goes well with the historical nature of
> the enterprise--than of use to someone who wants to understand the
> modern sense of the word as he learns it for the first time. I don't
> expect exhaustive coverage, but for a meaning that's been around for a
> hundred years to be missing completely? That's a different story...
>
> Am I being overly critical?
>
>     VS-)
>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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