[Ads-l] Origin of Pittsburgh Pirates nickname

[Laurence Horn]

> On Oct 15, 2018, at 8:32 PM, Paul A Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU> wrote:
> 
> What about Lou Bierbauer in the 1880s, when the Pittsburgh Alleghenys,

Ah yes, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys.  Outpolled the second-place nominee in the fan plebiscite, the Pittsburgh Ohio-Monongahelas.

> founded in 1882, stole him, i believe from the Philadelphia Athletics.  Both teams belonged to the American Association, at the time a major league.  I always thought this transaction led to the Pirates nickname.
> 
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2018 7:47:57 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Origin of Pittsburgh Pirates nickname
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Origin of Pittsburgh Pirates nickname
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>> On Oct 15, 2018, at 5:13 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> =
> wrote:
>> =20
>> Better Pirates of Penzance that No No Nanette=E2=80=A6
> 
> Yes, that was a painful transaction for us anti-Yankees fans, if we were =
> weren=E2=80=99t (quite) alive at the time of the Babe Ruth salary dump.  =
> Crazy Frazee. =20
> 
> I had always assumed the Pittsburgh Pirates were so-called for purposes =
> of alliteration, like the Boston Braves, the Buffalo Bills, the Seattle =
> Seahawks, the Jacksonville Jaguars, or the Philadelphia Phillies (well, =
> OK, that one is a bit more than alliteration).  The real story is more =
> interesting, I have to confess.  I wonder if the Tampa Bay Buc(caneer)s =
> of the NFL stole any players when they started out.  Not enough of them, =
> apparently.
> 
> LH
> 
>> =20
>> On Mon, Oct 15, 2018, 4:24 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> =
> wrote:
>> =20
>>> I recently posted an article about the origin of the Pittsburgh =
> Pirates'
>>> nickname.  The general story is well known - Pittsburgh "stole" =
> (allegedly
>>> - they were exonerated) some players - therefore "Pirates."  The =
> story is a
>>> bit more complex than that; there were a lot of pirates and =
> accusations of
>>> piracy flying around at the time.  Humorously, when the name Pirates
>>> finally caught on with Pittsburgh, it was borrowed from lyrics from =
> the
>>> Pirates of Penzance, "It is, it is, a glorious thing, to be, to be a =
> Pirate
>>> King."
>>> =20
>>> =
> https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-pittsburgh-pirates-of-penzance.html=
> 
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>> =20
>> =20
>> On Oct 15, 2018 4:24 PM, "Peter Reitan" <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> =20
>> I recently posted an article about the origin of the Pittsburgh =
> Pirates'
>> nickname.  The general story is well known - Pittsburgh "stole" =
> (allegedly
>> - they were exonerated) some players - therefore "Pirates."  The story =
> is a
>> bit more complex than that; there were a lot of pirates and =
> accusations of
>> piracy flying around at the time.  Humorously, when the name Pirates
>> finally caught on with Pittsburgh, it was borrowed from lyrics from =
> the
>> Pirates of Penzance, "It is, it is, a glorious thing, to be, to be a =
> Pirate
>> King."
>> =20
>> =
> https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-pittsburgh-pirates-of-penzance.html=
> 
>> =20
>> =20
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> =20
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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