In a message dated 8/31/99 7:28:04 PM, you wrote:
<<it's no more difficult to look up
Pound's refs. than it is to look up a player's "rubies" for the year 1984.>>
If the reference is from the sports section, that would be 'ribbies' , the
spoken version of R.B.I.s, or 'runs batted in'.
Maybe this confirms your point about specialist jargon.
But then you don't find non-initiates writing in the sports section.
Best, Jay Anania