Firstly, the only thing I hate more than people misnaming things is 3 year old threads being brought back from the dead to continue complaining about people misnaming things. I see the main issue as making sure people "outside of the loop" don't get confused, but many, including myself, find it easier in casualspeak to use the old term. Therefore I propose the following solution:
When talking around non-FIRSTers: Please strive to only use variants of Championship*
When talking around FIRST newbies: Please strive to only use variants of Championship*
When talking around Veterans: Who cares? Everyone knows what you're talking about, and if they don't, then you get to tell your inspirational stories about the ol' days
When IMing, Tweeting, or FBing: CMP actually rolls off the keyboard easer than Ntls*
On CD: See Veterans. Everyone on here either knows what you're talking about, or will pick up on it soon enough when they search for "Nationals" and come across this thread.
*In any case, I think calling the CMPs by their venue is also acceptable - "Atlanta," "Georgia Dome," "Epcot," "Orlando," "Disney," and "Houston," all convey the message adequately. Next year in St.L this may change, but I'm sure someone will resuscitate this thread back from the dead if that happens.
{on soapbox} Yes Yes Yes, we get that calling it "Championships" is important for the FRC Meme, and please try to do so in mixed company. But if it's not cases [1] or [2] above, graciously bite your lip and leave us alone. For deep in the
hearts of some of us, it's still Truck Town Terror, it's still Bionic Zebras, it's still Baxter Bomb Squad, we still play at Great Lakes, NASA/VCU, and Nationals, 71 is still "The Pepsi Team," 51 will be known as "Huskie Chiefs" behind their backs, 33 is still the team from Avondale, we still plug in our OIs and turn on our RCs, the thing with the blinky lights that fails every other match is still the "radio," I'm still "that kid from 217," and I still go past Pine Knob on the way to GMI in Flint! No, some of those things that I just mentioned haven't been correct for a decade or more, but for old-timers, it hearkens back to good memories, friends come & gone, and a simpler time - don't take that away from us. If its not actively harming the FIRST image to outsiders, or potentially derogatory, leave the old-timers alone. {/soapbox}
{Edit} And in mixed company, like Karibou says, correct them. If it's not around newbies, let it go