Language question: Why has "vinyls" become a word?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by TMegginson, Aug 13, 2019.

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  1. TMegginson

    TMegginson Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ottawa
    In the past 5 years, I've noticed people calling what I would call records, albums, or LPs, "vinyls."

    Example: "Oh, you're looking for vinyls? There's a store a few blocks from here."

    At first I thought it was a French Canadian thing, as I kept hearing it from froncophone friends in Montréal. But I'm also seeing it used more generally in the forums here.

    Is this a generational thing, or a perhaps an international difference? I don't begrudge linguistic change, but I can't figure out when or where this (for me) unusual use of "vinyl" came from.
     
  2. SquaRoots

    SquaRoots The North Star Grassman

    Location:
    AM✫dam.nl
    From the Guide For The Anglo-Saxon Record Collector:
    When in Rome, always ask for veeneelay.
    In Sevilla you should say beenill.
    And in Munich they asked me if I was looking for veenewl.​
    (Oh and you don't want to know what they say in Belarus)
     
    Fullbug and Trey A like this.
  3. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Because it annoys people
     
  4. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    Millennials. They didn't grow up with records. They didn't even grow up with record stores. When they see the word record and the read "Re-chord" rather than "Wreck Chord."
     
  5. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    Language is living, and it changes. If people say "vinyls," c'est la vie.
     
    MonkeyTennis, Yorick, Stefan and 25 others like this.
  6. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    I dunno, I've seen enough boomers call cables "chords" instead of "cords" to think maybe that's not a generational issue. :shh:
     
    astro70, bizmopeen, Drifter and 6 others like this.
  7. Markyp

    Markyp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louth
    Worry first about misuse of there, their and they’re.
    o_O
     
  8. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I have seen articles from years ago use the term...
    I care not one whit either way
     
  9. Christian Hill

    Christian Hill It's all in the mind

    Location:
    Boston
    language evolves over time due to usage, not unusual
     
  10. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    Years ago, snooty people started saying "vinyl" and "turntable" instead of "records" and "record players", and that's what the youngsters heard, so they pluralized it. Call it linguistic blowback.
     
  11. dee

    dee Senior Member

    Location:
    ft. lauderdale, fl
    I try not to use those words :);)
     
  12. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Like many "words" (and "beliefs"...) if you repeat them enough, they become legitimate. Even things that are incorrect, or just plain wrong.
     
    colgems1966, GyroT, Imagine70 and 6 others like this.
  13. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    People can't even use "to" or "too" properly...
     
  14. Lemon Curry

    Lemon Curry (A) Face In The Crowd

    Location:
    Mahwah, NJ
    Object and subject vexed me for a long time. Who and whom is still a riddle.

    I often retreat to my vinyls for consolation :)
     
  15. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    FYE? I went their too by some vinyls.








    (I actually couldn't (and could) care less if people write/say stuff like that, buy the whey . . . I'm not really someone to demand that people conform.)
     
  16. KariK

    KariK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Espoo, Finland
    Is it ok to but two beers then? Same thing I think. When you say vinyl in that context it means a record, not the material vinyl.
     
    NaturalD and Fullbug like this.
  17. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    Obviously unaware that vinyl is also plural.
     
  18. sunking101

    sunking101 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Yorkshire, England
    "Could of" and "should of" irk me the most, or peeps saying they could care less when the correct terminology is couldn't care less...
     
    mrjinks, SixtiesGuy, bhazen and 11 others like this.
  19. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Non-snarky answer:

    "Vinyl" started being used to differentiate records on that format from other forms of media (CDs, cassettes, etc.) This is because "record" was used throughout the decades to simply refer to a recording. Consider the fact that the Grammy for the best recording of the year (individual song) is called "Record of the Year." Additionally, an album can be on any format--that simply refers to an LP.

    After several years of "vinyl" being used to describe records, it was pluralized by some people just by the natural evolution of language.

    Personally, I prefer that "vinyl" be used for both singular and plural, but language develops over time. And there's nothing wrong with referring to records as vinyl. It was a necessary evolution of the language in a world of multiple formats all existing at once.
     
  20. The plural of vinyl is vinyl
     
  21. Technocentral

    Technocentral Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    As long as the format thrives I don't care what people call it.
     
    PopularChuck and classicrocker like this.
  22. onlyacanvasky

    onlyacanvasky Your guess is as good as mine.

    Yes I did.
     
    NunoBento and aphexj like this.
  23. snigglefritz

    snigglefritz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC
    Prolly cuz rekkids rawk!
     
  24. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I believe that it's a consequence of the near-extinction event that LPs went through in the 90's. Pre-80's, "vinyl" were just "records" (general) or "LPs" (to distinguish them from 45's or singles). Or they were "albums." When CDs appeared, we had another long-playing physical audio format, and so you had "records" and "CDs". But when CD essentially took over the market and LPs disappeared from common use, the terms "records" and "LPs" disappeared from use. When LPs started to come back, I think it was apparent that the most striking difference between the current format (CD) and the old one was that the old one was pressed to a vinyl disc, so people started using the more specific term "vinyl" instead of the more generic "records." And then it got pluralized because that's what people do in this generation. :laugh:

    Basically what it is is a trend toward more specificity in language, at least in this tiny niche. "Record" is short for "recording", and all this stuff is "recordings", and both vinyl LPs and CDs play a long time, but when you say "vinyl" or "vinyls", everyone knows what you are talking about.
     
    GyroT, Mumdad, lschwart and 2 others like this.
  25. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    I can accept all of the following and then some as a plural of "mouse:"
    mouses
    mousies
    mice
    mices
    micies
    meese
    meeses
     
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