"PIN" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

"MLB" was registered as a trademark for Major League Baseball as early
as 1973.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
Behalf Of
> Dan Goncharoff
> Sent: Friday, August 13, 2010 10:00 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "PIN" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> -
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "PIN" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
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> -
>
> Sorry, but this conversation seems a bit divorced from reality.
>
> "NBA" and "NFL" represent acronyms for long-standing names of leagues,
> which is why "the NBA" and "the NFL" have been used for decades.
>
> For most of their history, the American League (AL) and the National
> League (NL) had no clear terminology for their combined activities,
> the closest being "Major League", often used in the phrase "ML
> baseball". It wasn't until the late 90s that the Office of the
> Commissioner of ML baseball started referring to itself as "Major
> League Baseball". (The AL and NL as organizations were disbanded in
> 2000.)
>
> I would expect the language to somewhat reflect the history.
>
> DanG
>
> On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
--------------------
> ---
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> > Subject:      Re: "PIN" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
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> ---
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> > Most of the links you provide below are to graphs which are not
complete
> > on the left (early) side.  In every case I checked, if you changed
the
> > beginning date to one several decades earlier, you'd get more hits
that
> > the original graph did not show.
> >
> > Apparently Google News Archives defaults to a graph which doesn't
> > include every citation it finds.
> >
> > This is not to say, however, that Victor's basic point is wrong --
it
> > isn't.  All of the acronyms have grown greatly in the last few
decades
> > (probably associated with the growth in marketing the leagues
themselves
> > as brands).
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of
> >> Victor Steinbok
> >> Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 5:05 PM
> >> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> Subject: Re: "PIN"
> >>
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > ----------------------
> >> -
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:      Re: "PIN"
> >>
> >
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> > ------
> >> -
> >>
> >>   Not only that, but MLB is a fairly recent vintage. I don't recall
> > ever
> >> hearing or seeing references to "MLB" prior to the late
1990s--i.e.,
> > the
> >> "dotcom era". Checking GNA gives a very vivid graph:
> >>
> >> http://bit.ly/9EU41j
> >>
> >> To make matters worse, most of the early hits are from documents on
> >> MLB.com. The graph for "MLB baseball" makes the point even more
> > obvious:
> >>
> >> http://bit.ly/9QUHy8
> >>
> >> Compare that distribution to "major leagues baseball" (you extend
the
> >> search range into the early 1900s):
> >>
> >> http://bit.ly/bJWnOl
> >>
> >> Clearly the Google database is not exhaustive, but it provides a
> > fairly
> >> clear view of a cross-section of publications.
> >>
> >> In fact, comparing NBA to MLB is also illustrative:
> >>
> >> http://bit.ly/99R2fx
> >> http://bit.ly/cO3QYM
> >>
> >> and
> >>
> >> http://bit.ly/b7PmJa
> >>
> >> Clearly, there is a recent upswing in "NBA basketball" hits, but
> > that's
> >> largely due to 1) a similar increase in "NBA" hits, and 2) a
gradual
> >> increase in the number of digital-ready publications available to
> >> Google. The numbers for "MLB baseball" cannot be explained in the
same
> >> manner.
> >>
> >>      VS-)
> >>
> >> On 8/12/2010 4:39 PM, Dan Goodman wrote:
> >> > Jeff Prucher wrote:
> >> >>> From: Dan Goodman<dsgood at IPHOUSE.COM>
> >> >>>
> >> >>> USA Today's tv listings of baseball broadcasts include the
phrase
> > "MLB
> >> >>> baseball."
> >> >>>
> >> >>
> >> >> That strikes me more as being specific about which league is
being
> >> broadcast (as
> >> >> opposed to, say, NCAA baseball) than redundant.
> >> >>
> >> > MLB = Major League Baseball.    It refers to the National League
and
> > the
> >> > American League.  Not to one specific league.
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Dan Goodman
> >> > "I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
> >> > Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
> >> > Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com,
insanejournal.com)
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
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> >
>
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