# When did 'Team' become an adjective? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632 "2001-10-20T21:19:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/1 "2001-10-20T21:19:09Z")
Where did the fad of putting the word ‘Team’ **before** the name come from? You know, Team USA, Team Alpha, Team StupidNameWeMadeUp. What happened to the USA Team, the StupidNameWeMadeUp Team? It sets my teeth on edge everytime I hear it, as it sounds like an affected attempt at make something sound racey and modern. Can anything be done to make people stop it? Like beating them senseless everytime they do it? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/2 "2001-10-21T03:44:05Z")
“Team” as you’re using it is not an adjective, it’s a noun. As to the origins of this inverted word order, my WAG is it comes from the military. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/3 "2001-10-21T04:00:34Z")
Main Entry: [sup]3[/sub]team Function: adjective Date: 1886 ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/4 "2001-10-21T04:01:39Z")
Main Entry: [sup]3[/sup]team Function: adjective Date: 1886 ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/5 "2001-10-21T04:15:47Z")
FG, some examples of ‘team’ as an adjective: team player, team effort, teaming millions (:D). ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/6 "2001-10-21T05:47:20Z")
Just in case it wasn’t clear, I’ll mention that it’s “teeming millions”, where teeming is a participle formed from the verb [teem](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=teem). ---
**Author:** ![labradorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@labradorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labradorian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/7 "2001-10-21T17:20:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AWB \* > \*\*FG, some examples of ‘team’ as an adjective: team player, team effort, teaming millions (:D). \*\* That’s an attributive use of a noun. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/8 "2001-10-22T19:52:04Z")
I think rowrr is on track here. The adjectival usage doesn’t quite seem to apply in the case FG mentions. Anyone in the military know when it went from being “Bravo Company” to “Team Strikeforce”? (i.e., UNIT-NAME now vs. NAME-UNIT before) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/9 "2001-10-22T20:19:04Z")
WAG time, in international sports French is heavily used. IFAIK it is the official language of the Intl. Olympics Comm. So you hear a lot about “Team Canada” type names in sports. And it kinda rubs onto you after a while… ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/10 "2001-10-24T16:25:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ftg \* > \*\*WAG time, in international sports French is heavily used. IFAIK it is the official language of the Intl. Olympics Comm. So you hear a lot about “Team Canada” type names in sports. And it kinda rubs onto you after a while… \*\* Hmmm, sounds like a good wag to me. The grammar is certainly in line with French. It’s used everywhere though, and really irritates me for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-team-become-an-adjective/88632/11 "2001-10-24T17:02:36Z")
Doesn’t irritate me so much as its Dilbertesque use as a _verb_, as in “To be successfull we’ll have to team on this project.”