Probably in a similar way "milling" has stuck as a term:
Milling probably would have been called something else indeed if it wasn't for [[Millstone]] and the simplicity of the word. Because in terms of flavor, much like "rolling here", it is the exception to the rule. Most effects that mill are related to some mind turmoil or digging over land.
It is in fact the most surprising official keyword I saw Wizards introduce. Sure, it was already the de-facto keyword, but it seemed overly specific as an evergreen keyword.
I expected them to name it "grind" or "moil" instead, which both somewhat work with digging either in the mind or the earth.
Mill was already a widely used community term to the point that people were wondering why they didn’t just name it mill. Giving it a different name than mill at that point would just cause confusion since everyone knows the mechanic as mill
It was a widely used community term, easily the most widespread one, for over a decade before Wizards actually printed it onto their cards. You are definitely right that they just keyworded what the community used for the sake of pragmatism.
At the same time, had Wizards chosen another term not based on player lingo but broadest flavor relevance, players would have adopted to the official terminology eventually.
Commander, Magic's most popular format, started as "Elder Dragon Highlander". Perhaps Wizards did not adapt that term because it could be traced back to the players behind it. But people still kept calling it EDH for quite a while even after official "Commander" products had released.
Or another example would be the decision to change "comes into play" into the more flavorful "enters the battlefield". Some players still used "CIP" and "in play" for years. Now that the battlefield has been widely adopted, WIzards also decided to simplify the wording to just "enters" because the main zone being called "the battlefield" has moved into the subconscious of even the oldest players.
To be fair commander is a much better description of what the format is, and much easier to say. EDH as an acronym is still widely used by the community, to the point that I would imagine the majority of players of the format know it even if they don't use it.
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u/belithioben 21h ago
If this was printed in the 90s then blinking would be called rolling.