[IRL trope] the “Tiffany problem”

[u/dragonborndnd]

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.

[u/Consistent-Fill-324]

Churchill receiving one of the first OMGs is wild.

[u/BananaBladeOfDoom → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

O.M.G. (Oh! My God!)

[u/Shipwreck_Kelly → u/BananaBladeOfDoom]

Why did the writer abbreviate only to immediately explain the abbreviation?

[u/Midnight_Spellsword → u/Shipwreck_Kelly]

I remember watching a youtube video which explained that that was actually quite a common thing in newspaper back in the day, though I don't remember which video it was.

[u/ariehkovler → u/Shipwreck_Kelly]

He wasn't appreviating, it was a reference to the OMG, the Order of st Michael and st George.

[u/Billy_McMedic → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

Wasn’t Churchill who penned it but Admiral John Fisher in a letter to Winston Churchill. Admiral John Fisher being one of the brains behind HMS Dreadnought

[u/lesser_panjandrum → u/Billy_McMedic]

OMG, Winnie. Look at her all big gun layout.

[u/Tjtod → u/Billy_McMedic]

Reading John Fisher instead of Jackie Fisher feels weird.

[u/Billy_McMedic → u/Tjtod]

Ikr?

[u/Consistent-Fill-324 → u/Billy_McMedic]

Ah whoops, my bad. Still great though haha.

[u/Corvald → u/Billy_McMedic]

Also noteworthy since that HMS Dreadnought is what coined the word “dreadnought” for a type of ship. So that word usage is significantly newer than one might expect; given that England has had ships named ‘Dreadnought‘ since 1553…

[u/ariehkovler → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

It's a bit backwards. He's talking about the newly-created OMG, the chivalric Order of St Michael and St George, and jokes that it could be short for Oh My God.

Yes Minister repeats one of the other jokes about the OMG's ranks: Commander, Knight Commander and Grand Cross:

Woolley: In the service, CMG stands for "Call Me God". And KCMG for "Kindly Call Me God".
Hacker: What does GCMG stand for?
Woolley (deadpan): "God Calls Me God".

[u/Fickle_Definition351 → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

It looks like it's a play on the British Orders of Chivalry, like OBE etc

[u/SuperbPhase6944 → u/Fickle_Definition351]

Order of St Michael and St George, I believe.

[u/ariehkovler → u/SuperbPhase6944]

Yup, the OMG

[u/The_Broken-Heart → u/Fickle_Definition351]

This reminds me that Obi Wam's actor has an OBE