Date:    Tue, 24 Mar 1998 03:18:13 EST
<br>From:    Bapopik  Bapopik[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM 
<br>Subject: Wall Street Journal terms (continued)
<br>
<br>     Business affects everybody.  One day, say, you're editing a dictionary of
<br>American slang, and then the next day you wake up to "GERMANS BUY RANDOM
<br>HOUSE," and you're asked to edit the entire Deutsches Worterbuch by tomorrow.
<br>Bummer.
<br>     About a week ago, I think Ron Butters posted someone's query about
<br>business language.  An interesting book is BUSINESS BUZZWORDS:  EVERYTHING YOU
<br>NEED TO KNOW TO SPEAK THE LINGO OF THE 90s (1995) by Charles B. Wendel &
<br>Elaine Svensson and published by the American Management Association.  It's a
<br>pretty good introduction, and even includes some Japanese words such as
<br>"kanban" and "keiretsu."
<br>     I finished another segment of my Wall Street Journal reading, so here
<br>goes:
<br>
<br>CREDIT CARD--The OED first entry is, surprisingly enough, from the 1888 Edward
<br>Bellamy novel LOOKING BACKWARD.  Its next citation is 20 October 1958.
<br>     In the WSJ, 12 August 1958, pg. 5, "American Express invites your
<br>application for _the_ comprehensive credit card."  The ad mentions that the
<br>new American Express Credit Card is "a natural supplement to the world-famous
<br>American Express Travelers Cheque."  In the WSJ, 30 September 1958, pg. 13,
<br>"Tomorrow, October 1, a new era in credit convenience opens for the American
<br>public.  For tomorrow the new American Express Credit Card goes into effect
<br>for its hundreds of thousands of members--becoming, on its very first day, the
<br>most useful credit privilege ever made available."  It turns 40!...Diners'
<br>Club was formed in 1950.
<br>
<br>PRICE-EARNINGS RATIO--The OED has this from 1961, citing the Dallas Morning
<br>News!  In the WSJ, 27 May 1959, pg. 16, col. 6, a review of the book A PRIMER
<br>FOR PROFIT IN THE STOCK MARKET by Harry Kahn, Jr. mentions "computing stock
<br>yields and price-earnings ratios and scouting industry potentialities."
<br>
<br>TALENT--This was discussed on ADS-L some months ago.  The WSJ, 11 July 1958,
<br>pg. 14, col. 2, states that television shows are "known in the trade as
<br>'talent.'"  The headline on pg. 1, col. 1 is "Dickering on the Price Tags of
<br>'Talent.'"
<br>
<br>PRIME TIME--The same 11 July 1958, pg. 1, col. 1 article has "so-called prime
<br>(highest-price) evening time, which usually means from 7:30 to 10:30, Eastern
<br>time, give or take a half-hour."  The OED has 1964 for "prime time."
<br>
<br>BANTAM SUPERMARKET--The WSJ, 16 April 1959, pg. 1, col. 4 headline is "The
<br>Small Food Store Revives in New Form:  Bantam Supermarket/ Chains Spread in
<br>Florida and Other States; They Offer Long Hours, Fast Service."  The article
<br>notes that "Although the bantams are the result of an idea about 30 years old,
<br>they've suddenly boomed in the past two or three years.  And their growth
<br>promises to accelerate. (...) For a look at a typical store, visit one here in
<br>Jacksonville operated by Seven Eleven Stores, Inc., a big Dallas chain.  As
<br>the name implies, the market opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 11 p.m.  (Each
<br>green-and-white store is decorated with a yellow rooster holding the red
<br>figure 7 and a sprightly owl holding a green sign spelling out eleven.)"
<br>     "Bantam supermarket" did not survive as a business term.  7-11 is now
<br>open 24 hours.
<br>
<br>CONVENIENCE FOOD--OED has 2 December 1961.  The WSJ, 27 October 1958, pg. 1,
<br>col. 4, has "The new Wilson line is the latest development in the frozen food
<br>industry's move toward 'convenience' foods."
<br>
<br>CANDYGRAM--The WSJ, 30 January 1959, pg. 7 ad for Western Union announced that
<br>"beginning today--you can send a CandyGram anywhere in the U.S.A."
<br>     Except for the unabomber,  perhaps.
<br>
<br>     There's more, but I'm titanic-ly tired.
<br>