Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 07-27-2018, 02:13 PM
 
Location: Denver CO
24,204 posts, read 19,014,407 times
Reputation: 38265

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by ClemVegas View Post
There are many abbreviations that are used for several different things. USC isn't the name of either university.
You must be fun at parties. Toodles, I'm outta here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-27-2018, 02:14 PM
 
Location: Greenville SC 'Waterfall City'
10,106 posts, read 7,304,661 times
Reputation: 4072
Quote:
Originally Posted by emm74 View Post
You must be fun at parties. Toodles, I'm outta here.
So being fun at parties is always agreeing with what other people say rather than state my own opinions. Ok then. That doesn't sound like fun to me.

It is interesting to me from a psychology standpoint that people who didn't attend Southern Cal are territorial about it being the 'real' USC. I think any college that has a name that correspond with the initials of USC is a 'real' USC.

If I were to talk at length about UofSC , I would call it University of South Carolina first and then use USC as an abbreviation. Unless you are saying the university name numerous times, there is no reason to use the abbreviation.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 02:20 PM
 
8,730 posts, read 6,657,018 times
Reputation: 8449
You're tilting at a windmill here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 02:33 PM
 
2,088 posts, read 1,944,290 times
Reputation: 3167
So, some previous post hit most of these, but I've lived in several regions of the country, and have family and friends in most of the rest:

U. of Miami: Miami, U-M or the U.
U. of Miami-Ohio: Miami of Ohio, possibly nearby some call it Miami.
U. of Missouri: Missouri, MU, or Mizzou
U. of Michigan: Michigan or U of M. A previous poster said U-M, I've seen that written a few times but never heard anybody refer to it as that out loud. When it's said aloud, the 'of' is always in there.
U. of Mississippi: Ole Miss, Mississippi, I haven't heard it called UM or U of M, but haven't spent a lot of time nearer than East Texas.
U. of Minnesota: Minnesota, 'the U' locally, but much less famous nationally than Miami for this name. Also 'U of M' locally, but less famous than Michigan nationally.
U. of Montana: Montana, not sure how people abbreviate it.

Now USC and South Carolina: throughout the country outside of some parts of SEC country, USC means the University of Southern California. It's a much more famous school for both academics and athletics than South Carolina. Probably the only places someone would think South Carolina over Southern California for USC would be North and South Carolina and maybe Georgia.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 03:27 PM
 
Location: Greenville SC 'Waterfall City'
10,106 posts, read 7,304,661 times
Reputation: 4072
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texamichiforniasota View Post
So, some previous post hit most of these, but I've lived in several regions of the country, and have family and friends in most of the rest:

U. of Miami: Miami, U-M or the U.
U. of Miami-Ohio: Miami of Ohio, possibly nearby some call it Miami.
U. of Missouri: Missouri, MU, or Mizzou
U. of Michigan: Michigan or U of M. A previous poster said U-M, I've seen that written a few times but never heard anybody refer to it as that out loud. When it's said aloud, the 'of' is always in there.
U. of Mississippi: Ole Miss, Mississippi, I haven't heard it called UM or U of M, but haven't spent a lot of time nearer than East Texas.
U. of Minnesota: Minnesota, 'the U' locally, but much less famous nationally than Miami for this name. Also 'U of M' locally, but less famous than Michigan nationally.
U. of Montana: Montana, not sure how people abbreviate it.

Now USC and South Carolina: throughout the country outside of some parts of SEC country, USC means the University of Southern California. It's a much more famous school for both academics and athletics than South Carolina. Probably the only places someone would think South Carolina over Southern California for USC would be North and South Carolina and maybe Georgia.
How do you know this if you don't know most Americans?

You are proving my point that people who gush over Southern Cal academics and athletics think it is the 'real' USC. But I don't see any reason to believe most Americans care about Southern Cal academics or athletics.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 04:39 PM
 
Location: San Diego
591 posts, read 813,714 times
Reputation: 610
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClemVegas View Post
How do you know this if you don't know most Americans?

You are proving my point that people who gush over Southern Cal academics and athletics think it is the 'real' USC. But I don't see any reason to believe most Americans care about Southern Cal academics or athletics.
You are absolutely right. Many (if not most) Americans do not care or know much about the University of Southern California or University of South Carolina.

However, if an individual has general knowledge about American universities, that person is more likely (but not guaranteed) to associate USC to Southern Cal than they are to South Carolina.

"USC" is not owned by Southern Cal, and I'm sure many Americans do associate USC to S. Carolina. But the point being made on this thread is that Southern Cal is more commonly accepted as the USC within the American university system.

If you were to take a poll amongst Americans with general university knowledge from all regions of the country, I would wager the results would be somewhere around 80% Southern Cal and 20% S. Carolina.

Last edited by dapper23; 07-27-2018 at 04:48 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 05:08 PM
 
Location: Greenville SC 'Waterfall City'
10,106 posts, read 7,304,661 times
Reputation: 4072
Quote:
Originally Posted by dapper23 View Post
You are absolutely right. Many (if not most) Americans do not care or know much about the University of Southern California or University of South Carolina.

However, if an individual has general knowledge about American universities, that person is more likely (but not guaranteed) to associate USC to Southern Cal than they are to South Carolina.

"USC" is not owned by Southern Cal, and I'm sure many Americans do associate USC to S. Carolina. But the point being made on this thread is that Southern Cal is more commonly accepted as the USC within the American university system.

If you were to take a poll amongst Americans with general university knowledge from all regions of the country, I would wager the results would be somewhere around 80% Southern Cal and 20% S. Carolina.
I would think a majority or plurality would associate USC with either one.

It is difficult to think of a situation in which one of these universities is discussed and the context doesn't make it clear which one is being discussed given they are opposite sides of the country and play sports in difference conferences.

If they did a poll, I'd be interested in seeing them also break it out by political party. I predict a lot more Democrats would think Southern Cal 'owns' USC than Republicans.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 05:19 PM
 
Location: (six-cent-dix-sept)
6,639 posts, read 4,518,278 times
Reputation: 4730
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClemVegas View Post
How do you know this if you don't know most Americans?

You are proving my point that people who gush over Southern Cal academics and athletics think it is the 'real' USC. But I don't see any reason to believe most Americans care about Southern Cal academics or athletics.
didnt usc have 3 heisman trophy winners 3 years in a row ?
and they won the bcs several years.

Last edited by stanley-88888888; 07-27-2018 at 05:27 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 05:57 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,147,178 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClemVegas View Post
Ok, I'm willing to change my mind if you show me some polling on this topic. I think a majority or plurality of Americans would think of both universities if the context is not clear. A majority of Americans did not attend either university and SC is closer to a majority of Americans.

If the context is 'USC is an elite university academically' or 'USC's football program is a blueblood' then I would assume Southern Cal is being discussed. But this is only possible b/c I'm aware of Us News college rankings and I follow college football.
>10% of the US population lives right in California.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2018, 06:19 PM
 
Location: Greenville SC 'Waterfall City'
10,106 posts, read 7,304,661 times
Reputation: 4072
Apparently Southern Cal doesn't like it when sports people use that expression, partly because it makes it seem like it is a southern branch campus of Cal. They say it is also like referring to Uni of North Carolina as North Car.

THe U of SC on their website recommends using South Carolina as abbreviation after first using the full name. I'm not a big fan of initial abbreviations so I can go with that.

Sometimes during games, the tv networks have SC labeled as SCAR or S. Carolina.

It would be interesting to do a poll and see how many people know Southern Cal is not a branch of the University of California. And then find out how many of those people think Southern Cal owns the USC abbreviation.

I only recently discovered Southern Cal is private and I had never heard anybody talk up its academics off this forum outside of it being ranked high in the popular rankings.

Last edited by ClemVegas; 07-27-2018 at 06:33 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top