The History Behind the title Realtor

Americans have always been defined by their jobs. The so-called Protestant Work Ethic has led us to prioritize our work above all else. Most important to many was and still is the tile we apply to ourselves in the workplace. This is a story of how many of these titles came to be.

American euphemisms in the 1900s added to the list of new words unique to American English. These were often referred to as Americanisms. The desire to add -ist, -or, and -cian to gain distinction was rampant. In the 1937 edition of The American Language, Mencken claims that “the American tends to be apologetic of the career path they chose.” Mencken states that “He seldom believes that it is quite worthy of his virtues and talents almost always thinks that he would’ve adored something far gaudier.” He continues on saying, “ unfortunately, it is not always possible for him to escape, or even for him to dream, plausibly of escaping, so he soothes himself, by assuring  himself, that he belongs to a superior section of his class, and very often He invents a sonorous a name to set himself off from the herd.” 

These euphemisms included:

• mortician for undertaker

• beautician for hairdresser 

• exterminating engineer for ratcatcher (engineer was added to endless job titles)

• electragist for electrical contractor (now obsolete)

• Realtor for real estate agent

For today’s story, we are focusing on Realtor for real estate agent. As a resident of Minnesota, I found the coining of this new word intriguing.  Before I move any further, I would like to focus on the proper pronunciation of this word. It is just two syllables rēl/ter.

In Minneapolis in 1915, Charles N Chadbourn was on his way to a meeting when he came across a less-than-positive article. He recalls this. “It was in November 1915, on my way to a meeting of the Minneapolis real estate board, that I was annoyed by the strident peddling of a scandal sheet all about the robbery of a poor widow by a real estate man. The real estate man that’s exposed, turned out to be an obscure hombre with desk room in the back office of the rookery of the incidents that set me to thinking. every member of our board, I thought is busy smirched for the scandal article. Anyone, however, unworthy or disreputable, he called himself the real estate man why do not the members of this board deserves a distinctive title each member is vouched for by the board subscribes to each code of ethics it must behave on or get out.”

With that concern, Chadbourn noted that the etymology of the term real estate agent was no longer current. He states that “real estate originally meant a royal grant. It is so connected with land in the public mind that Realtor is easily understood even at first hearing.”  In March of 1916, Chadbourn attended a convention of the National Association of Real Estate Boards in New Orleans, where he proposed the new name "Realtor". The convention accepted the word gratefully.  Using this word to define your position as a real estate agent meant you followed a strict code of ethics. 

The use of Realtor (now a proper noun, deeming capitalization) was closely guarded. In 1920, the Minneapolis Real Estate Board and the Association of Real Estate Boards applied to Judge Joseph W Molyneaux, of Minneapolis, for an injunction restraining Northwestern Telephone Exchange Company from using the term "Realtor” for some of its employees. This sparked a widespread attack on anyone misusing the term. The General Council of the National Association wrote, “ [Realtor] is not a word, but a trade right coined and protected by law by the National Association of real estate boards and the term is part of the trademark as registered in some 44 States and Canada…” 

So you can only imagine the scandal that arose when, in 1922, Sinclair Lewis used this word in his novel Babbitt. His character, George F. Babbitt, was scrutinized by Chadbourn and found to be “fairly well described”. So it was decided, and the topic dropped.

I would like to interject here,” real” as we know it now, would be less likely to be connected with land. Etymonline Online writes, “ as far back as Middle English, real was used in law in reference to immovable property, paired with, and distinguished from, personal”.  This took me down yet another rabbit hole: the connection between the words ”real” and ”really.” The British English speakers of the time were quick to refer to American English as vulgar.  Common rules of grammar were not followed, and syntax changed. The misuse of verbs and adverbs was common. The words "real" and "really" were no exception to this misuse.

Personally, I am not surprised to read this, considering many Americans had roots in foreign languages. We know it is no longer uncommon to hear, “I’ll write really soon.” The word really has become a commonly misused intensifier. I am often guilty of this. When I want to use really, meaning very, I challenge myself to insert a substitution, which inevitably makes a stronger sentence. Now that I'm reading this back, I am curious how often I have missed this in previous articles.  

*In the years since the coining of “Realtor,” it has evolved from a word to a trademark. There are rules on who may or may not call themselves a Realtor. Additionally, there are restrictions on spelling, including whether to entirely capitalize words, when to use the ® symbol, and other guidelines. 

If you have found my series on the origins of American English interesting, please leave me a comment below. And by all means, share this with a friend!

Thanks, Pam

*I acknowledge I have not followed all the regulations regarding this word/trademark for the purposes of sharing historical information in this paper.