[Ads-l] Origin of Pittsburgh Pirates nickname

Tue Oct 16 13:20:56 UTC 2018

Although, just for accuracy's sake, the Pirate's nickname is the Bucs or Buccos. "Pirates" is the team name and sometimes mascot (there's also a giant parrot that prowls PNC Park during games...)
Scott

On Mon, Oct 15, 2018 at 8:35 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu<mailto:laurence.horn at yale.edu>> wrote:
> On Oct 15, 2018, at 8:32 PM, Paul A Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU<mailto: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<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU<mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>>
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2018 7:47:57 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto: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<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU<mailto: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<mailto: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<mailto: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://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fesnpc.blogspot.com%2F2018%2F10%2Fthe-pittsburgh-pirates-of-penzance.html&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=YHURhB1C0YRnx6ITm2SiQW%2BnT2ZasM2h42d0Wwz0M30%3D&reserved=0=
>
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=bixJFlusbdlKel7jChha3DJ5KhcHPQG9zvqLLVMzyhg%3D&reserved=0
>>> =20
>> =20
>> On Oct 15, 2018 4:24 PM, "Peter Reitan" <pjreitan at hotmail.com<mailto: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://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fesnpc.blogspot.com%2F2018%2F10%2Fthe-pittsburgh-pirates-of-penzance.html&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=YHURhB1C0YRnx6ITm2SiQW%2BnT2ZasM2h42d0Wwz0M30%3D&reserved=0=
>
>> =20
>> =20
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=bixJFlusbdlKel7jChha3DJ5KhcHPQG9zvqLLVMzyhg%3D&reserved=0
>> =20
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=bixJFlusbdlKel7jChha3DJ5KhcHPQG9zvqLLVMzyhg%3D&reserved=0
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=bixJFlusbdlKel7jChha3DJ5KhcHPQG9zvqLLVMzyhg%3D&reserved=0
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=bixJFlusbdlKel7jChha3DJ5KhcHPQG9zvqLLVMzyhg%3D&reserved=0

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org&data=02%7C01%7Ckiesling%40PITT.EDU%7Cd76ea01510104d228e9a08d632ff39df%7C9ef9f489e0a04eeb87cc3a526112fd0d%7C1%7C0%7C636752469102159149&sdata=bixJFlusbdlKel7jChha3DJ5KhcHPQG9zvqLLVMzyhg%3D&reserved=0

--
Scott F. Kiesling, PhD
Professor
Chair, Department of Linguistics

Interim
Director of the Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies 

Program

Office (GSWS): 401F CL
Office (Linguistics): 2828 CL

Mailing Address:
Department of Linguistics
University of Pittsburgh, 2816 CL
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Email: kiesling at pitt.edu<mailto:kiesling at pitt.edu>
Web:
http://sfkiesling.com
http://www.linguistics.pitt.edu
Twitter: @pittprofdude

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