# Someone at the FCC needs a dictionary... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429 "2007-07-27T21:44:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/21 "2007-07-28T05:38:06Z")
In Boston there’s a broadcaster that’s a letter shy of the usual complement: [WBZ radio](http://www.wbz.com/) and [television](http://wbztv.com/). Why only three letters? Because that callsign was assigned way back in the Dark Ages of broadcasting, when three letters provided enough combinations for everyone to get one. The theory and practice of call letter assignment are discussed in excruciating depth [here.](http://earlyradiohistory.us/3myst.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/22 "2007-07-28T08:48:11Z")
More three-letter call letters: WGN and WLS in Chicago, WHA in Madison, Wis. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/23 "2007-07-28T09:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=Ferd Burfel] Someone at the FCC needs a dictionary… [/QUOTE] Because they would find something in the dictionary under “KUNT”? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/24 "2007-07-28T13:27:09Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] More three-letter call letters: WGN and WLS in Chicago, WHA in Madison, Wis. [/QUOTE] WGN stands for World’s Greatest Newspaper, being a TRIBUNE company. I’ve heard that WLS stands for World’s Largest Store from a previous connection to Sears, but don’t know if that’s true ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/25 "2007-07-28T14:05:51Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] WGN stands for World’s Greatest Newspaper, being a TRIBUNE company. I’ve heard that WLS stands for World’s Largest Store from a previous connection to Sears, but don’t know if that’s true [/QUOTE] 'Tis true, according to the link I posted. > [@](#): > > All broadcast station activity in three-letter calls did not cease following the 1922 switchover to four-letter calls, as about half of today’s holders of three-letter calls trace their first assignment to later than 1922. In many cases these post-1922 calls were not the station’s first, but were ones they changed to some years later. Some calls were claimed when a previously authorized broadcaster or other station expired. And many of these calls were specially requested to tie-in with a slogan or licencee name: “World’s Largest Store” (Sears); “World’s Greatest Harbor” (Norfolk, Virginia); “World’s Greatest Newspaper” (Chicago Tribune); “Woodman Of the World”; “We Shield Millions” (National Life), etc. The last new three-letter call assignment, excluding reassignments of previously used calls or FM and TV sister stations, was WIS (now WVOC), “Wonderful Iodine State” in Columbia, South Carolina on January 23, 1930. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/26 "2007-07-28T14:31:53Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Because they would find something in the dictionary under “KUNT”? [/QUOTE] Maybe they need a Klingon dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/27 "2007-07-28T14:34:12Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] More three-letter call letters: WGN and WLS in Chicago, WHA in Madison, Wis. [/QUOTE] While we’re counting: WWL in New Orleans, both radio and TV (CBS affiliate). ---
**Author:** ![neorxnawange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@neorxnawange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neorxnawange)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/28 "2007-07-28T14:42:59Z")
More call-sign trivia: In the US there are two stations that spell out the city from which they are broadcast: WACO (TX) WARE (MA) ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/29 "2007-07-28T14:51:19Z")
[QUOTE=anyrose] with one notable exception in Pittsburgh PA - America’s first commercial radio station - KDKA - which launched Nov 2, 1920. [/QUOTE] There’s also KYW in Philadelphia. Robin ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/30 "2007-07-28T15:32:25Z")
[QUOTE=panamajack] No, but the now-gone Bay area station KOME used to have ads saying things like, “Get some KOME in your ear”. (KOIT has long been a mostly soft-rock station that wouldn’t go for stuff like that). [/QUOTE] And “Don’t touch that dial, its got KOME on it”. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/31 "2007-08-30T17:04:53Z")
Just an update. The [airwaves](http://starbulletin.com/2007/08/29/business/engle.html) are safe again. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/32 "2007-08-30T17:21:09Z")
[QUOTE=Ferd Burfel] I’m speechless. [/QUOTE] You’re really surprised that they’d have a problem with call letters that are phonetically the same as what many consider to be the most offensive word in the language? If it were up to me, the FCC would have nothing to do with obscenity and just regulate frequencies, but as long as they are in the naughty word business it seems a slam dunk they wouldn’t let this one fly, even though “cunt” is not normally spelled with a ‘k’. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/33 "2007-08-30T17:44:26Z")
WGY in Schenectady. “G for the first letter in ‘General Electric,’ Y for the last letter in ‘Schenectady.’” There also used to be WOR in New York, but they changed a few years ago to WWOR. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/34 "2007-08-30T17:49:06Z")
Is there some double entendre in WGY? ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/35 "2007-08-30T17:57:58Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] You’re really surprised that they’d have a problem with call letters that are phonetically the same as what many consider to be the most offensive word in the language? If it were up to me, the FCC would have nothing to do with obscenity and just regulate frequencies, but as long as they are in the naughty word business it seems a slam dunk they wouldn’t let this one fly, even though “cunt” is not normally spelled with a ‘k’. [/QUOTE] His surprise was that they did let it fly, at least temporarily. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/36 "2007-08-30T18:06:19Z")
WSB, a radio and TV station here in Atlanta, got started in 1922. Its letters originally stood for “Welcome, Southern Brothers.” Obviously that was a very different time. Complementary to KDKA in Pittsburgh (east of the Mississippi), isn’t there also a “W” spy in the “K” camp? And, I really don’t see the problem with KWTF. It’s an oblique reference, and I suspect the people who’d get it wouldn’t be bothered by it. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/37 "2007-08-30T18:27:23Z")
I’ve posted this before, in other call letter threads, but my alma mater’s student radio station is [KUMM](http://kumm.org/), and one of the commercial stations in town is [KKOK](http://kmrskkok.com/) (start with the second ‘K’). While I was a student, I used to be a DJ on the college station (I think I still could, now that I am back in town). We used all of the same ‘funny’ lines as used above for KOME, but for me, none of them ever topped “The only radio station to put KUMM in your mom”. Oh, and our intramural softball team (which had one win, when the other team failed to show) was called ‘The Screamin’ Seamen’, with a neat logo of a screaming softball with an interesting tail. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/38 "2007-08-30T18:34:19Z")
[QUOTE=yoyodyne] His surprise was that they did let it fly, at least temporarily. [/QUOTE] Do’h! :smack: That makes more sense… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/39 "2007-08-30T18:38:55Z")
There used to be a KASH somewhere in Iowa; a station in [Anchorage](http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=kash&sr=Y&s=C) uses that now. [QUOTE=Fiver] Complementary to KDKA in Pittsburgh (east of the Mississippi), isn’t there also a “W” spy in the “K” camp? [/QUOTE] You mean other than [WACO](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8825969&postcount=28)? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429/40 "2007-08-30T18:56:53Z")
WKY in Oklahoma City. It’s both a W station in the K region, and a three-letter call. WKY used to have an AM broadcast, an FM broadcast, and a television station. The FM station only lasted a few years. They sold the TV station off awhile back and had to change those call letters, so now there’s just the AM radio station left. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-at-the-fcc-needs-a-dictionary/413429.md?page=3)