[Ads-l] Origin of Pittsburgh Pirates nickname

Tue Oct 16 14:03:44 UTC 2018

>  Although, just for accuracy's sake, the Pirate's nickname is the Bucs or
Buccos. "Pirates" is the team name.

True now...

But in my day, what is now the "team name"' was often referred to as the
"team's nickname."

Don't take my word for it:

1964 Newsweek (Google Boooks): Hofheinz announced that his three-
year-old team's
nickname, Colt .45s, lacked firepower for the space age.

A newspaper search should reveal earlier exx. I feel sure that the usage
was common a decade earlier, when I first discovered that activity called
"baseball."

JL

On Tue, Oct 16, 2018 at 9:31 AM Kiesling, Scott F <kiesling at pitt.edu> wrote:

> 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
> >
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> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>
> --
> Scott F. Kiesling, PhD
> Professor
> Chair, Department of Linguistics
>
> Interim
> Director of the Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies 
> 
> Program
>
> Office (GSWS): 401F CL
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>
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