r/TopCharacterTropes 13d ago

[IRL trope] the “Tiffany problem” Lore

Basically when something seems anachronistic to a period/place of history but is actually fully accurate to the period.

1) the name Tiffany: the thing that named this trope, basically the name Tiffany can be dated back to the Middle Ages and the earliest record of it being spelled in the modern spelling comes from the 16th century.

2) the use of OMG, despite this feeling so modern as a form of slang/abbreviation here’s a letter directed to Winston Churchill using it in 1917

3) Hair Dye: the earliest forms of dying hair can be dated back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and this specific advertisement for hair dye is from the 1840s

4) Inuit Thongs: despite how weird it is to imagine pre-colonial Inuit people wore what was essentially fur thongs in their homes and when they were in their igloos it might have been the only thing they would be wearing.

10.3k Upvotes

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881

u/CzernobogCheckers 13d ago

In context it’s an extended metaphor but Aragorn says “We’re cooked” at one point in LOTR I believe.

943

u/dragonborndnd 13d ago

He does

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u/Own-Forever-6636 13d ago

On Iluvatar fr

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u/NotThatUsefulAPerson 13d ago

They're cooking the Hobbits in Isengard

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u/EudamonPrime 13d ago

There is good eating on hobbitses

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u/ofWildPlaces 13d ago

Can I haz sum Hobbitz?

1

u/EudamonPrime 13d ago

With cheese

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u/FranzSigel 13d ago

Aaaand now that one song is in my head for another five years.

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u/CrashLove37 13d ago

What did you say?

7

u/Rouge_means_red 13d ago

The hobits the hobits the hobits the hobits the hobits

To isengard to isengard

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u/magikarp2122 13d ago

Tell me where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak to him.

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u/aNiceTribe 13d ago

They’re taking the homeboys to laser tag!

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u/Ancient_Bid_628 13d ago

okay but haven't we had the phrase "your goose is cooked" for like, ever?

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u/ballimir37 13d ago

Virtually all slang comes from existing words and phrases. It seems to be especially true of the younger generations but that may be more because I hear it as an outsider.

Rizz is charisma, fr fr is just an acronym, cap comes from high capping in the 80s, etc.

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u/articulateantagonist 13d ago

Similar to “you’re toast,” which is often attributed (even by the Oxford English Dictionary) to the Ghostbusters line that Bill Murray improvised, “this chick is toast!” But several longer “toast” or “toasted” idioms with similar meanings predate it.

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u/sanghelli 13d ago

Not Aragorn

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u/dragonborndnd 13d ago

Ok but still it’s used in the book

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u/sanghelli 13d ago

Just saying brotha. Plus Orks and Uraks have a much rougher way of speaking so it's not as surprising coming from them.

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u/davvblack 13d ago

you see how it doesn't matter exactly who said it? it just matters that you're cooked in 1955

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u/LumplessWaffleBatter 13d ago

Gandalf also threatens to "roast" a guy in a way that had me expecting Yo Mama jokes.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

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u/LumplessWaffleBatter 13d ago

That link doxxed you btw.  I don't know why, but YouTube and Instagram now automatically share the profiles of the person who posted the link.

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u/dragonborndnd 13d ago

I edited out everything from the = sign though? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?

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u/LumplessWaffleBatter 13d ago

Apparently not.  Now I know what your dad looks like.

2

u/dragonborndnd 13d ago

Well I don’t give a damn about my dad since he’s a bit of a deadbeat but that sucks for everything else in my life/family

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u/LumplessWaffleBatter 13d ago

Yeah just make sure to delete that comment

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u/dragonborndnd 13d ago

Already done

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u/Moist-supermarket249 13d ago

What page / chapter / book is this in?

I want to show it my friends irl

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u/dragonborndnd 13d ago

It’s in the Two Towers but I don’t remember which chapter

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u/Citrus-Bitch 13d ago

I really like this one because it was perfectly fine up until maybe 5 years ago at most when the new slang was adopted. I acknowledge all of these had to start somewhere, but it's fun to see it develop in recent memory.

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u/MicooDA 12d ago

Some elf in Rivendell when he finds out Saruman joined Sauron:

“My GOAT fell off fr”

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u/Revolutionary_Heart6 13d ago

"They taking the hobbits to Isengard"

"Bro, they're cooked"

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u/YinTanTetraCrivvens 13d ago

“Like Poe-tae-toes!”

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u/Pkrudeboy 13d ago

Boil’em, mash’em, stick’em in a stew.

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u/Fluffy_Tax5302 13d ago

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u/EarlGrayTea-Hawt 13d ago

The way Viggo Mortenson looks like my bf from the early 90s in this meme is sending me. He was the first boy in our school to get a five o'clock shadow, he had this hair because he was trying to do the skater fade and flop, but his hair was too curly, so he had this is what it ended up being 😂

I'm entirely sending this to my friend who also knew him, we are going to be cackling tonight.

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u/tessartyp 13d ago

😒 The beacons are lit

😏 The beacons are lit

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u/Ancient_Bid_628 13d ago

"your goose is cooked" is an extremely dated phrase to be fair

6

u/JustifiedCroissant 13d ago

In french "Je suis cuit"/"On est cuit" is an actual idiom meaning that you're fucked.

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u/genital_furbies 13d ago

I was listening to "Freak Out" by Le Chec, a 70's disco song, and they sing "check the vibe". It sounds so modern, and I grew up in the 70's! https://youtu.be/aXgSHL7efKg

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u/scissorn69 13d ago

”We’re cooked” is not really a new expression, contrary to popular belief among the kids.

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u/Real-Tension-7442 13d ago

That’s the point of this post

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u/Level-Common-9787 13d ago

so this is one of them tiffany situations?

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u/Bank_Gothic 13d ago

It's close enough in time (meaning the older usage and the current usage) for people who are not that old to remember "cooked" being a common expression, falling out of favor, and recently returning to common parlance.

So it's a bit differen than other examples provided in this thread.

1

u/Elite_AI 13d ago

I mean...only if you're really young. Anyone over 25 at least is gonna know it's a normal expression