Tag: English

The Origin of the Piggy Bank

Leave a comment

During the 15th century, the English would often store coins within pygg pots or containers. During the 18th century these vessels became referred to as “piggy banks” which is where the modern day term is derived from. Piggy banks were called as such because of the pygg they were comprised of which is a type of clay, an inexpensive, orange colored earthenware clay used to produce everyday vessels within England from the 15th century onward (e.g. pitchers, cups, pots etc.). The primary reason for this is that metal has been costly all throughout history, due to the difficulty of sourcing and producing it from ore, and because of this expense, alongside the fact that pygg is more commonly available and found in larger quantities throughout England, the English public relied upon pygg containers to hold not only food and liquids but also spare coins and other small treasures

The Origin of Uppercase and Lowercase Letters and the Influence of Typesetting Upon the English Language

Leave a comment

The term “uppercase” and “lowercase” in relation to alphabet letters was derived during the Victorian period within England. Advertising was highly prominent during the 19th century and used ubiquitously by businesses. The poster makers who would serve these businesses would use letters which were essentially stamps, dipped into thick, viscous, oily ink, specifically formulated this way to cling to and transfer cleanly onto coarse paper which was designed to be rough so that it could absorb as much ink as possible. Compositors, which was the name for this particular vocation during the 19th century, would keep their letters in a type case with large letters at the top and small letters at the bottom. The letters were kept in what was effectively a suitcase which did not close which is where the terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” originated from, as the letters were stored in either the upper portion of the type case or the lower portion of the type case. Each individual letter, a block referred to as a “sort”, was cast in metal and crafted backward to be arranged by hand by a skilled craftsperson. The layout of the case, with capital letters in the upper section and lowercase letters in the bottom, was highly pragmatic, as it positioned the most often used letters at the bottom closer to the person setting the typeset. Interestingly, this pragmatism influenced the English language as compositors not only set letters, they also selected when to use punctuation, spacing, and line breaks, all of which shaped how text was read and understood. Because movable type requires physical pieces for every character used, punctuation was to be used deliberately as too many commas, colons, em dashes etc. meant more time spent, more metal used, and more space being taken up upon the page. This physical constraint helped standardize English punctuation use and even influenced sentence structure, encouraging clarity and economy in writing which are themes that have endured into the 21st century

The Origin of the Excalibur Sword Mythology

Leave a comment

In 1136 A.D., a Welsh cleric named Geoffrey of Monmouth while traveling through South Wales, wrote a chronicle entitled “Historia Regum Brittaniae” (pronounced “his-tor-ee-yah ray-gum brit-ann-ee-eye”) which means the “History of the Kings of England” in Latin. This compendium was a clever weave of historical facts and fantastical tales, and the text did a great deal to reignite the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Geoffrey wrote of Caliburnus which is translated to “Excalibur” in English, the mythical sword which provided Arthur the destiny to rule over England. Geoffrey accounts that the sword was forged upon the Isle of Avalon which would “carve the souls from out of them with blood”. Excalibur is an excellent demonstration of how highly the English venerated their swords, with other western cultures following suit

The Development of Lock Hospitals Within England for Female Sex Workers During the 19th Century

Leave a comment

Due to the fact that sexually transmitted infections and diseases were rampant among English soldiers, in 1864 novel legislation entitled the Contagious Diseases Act was passed which permitted any woman suspected of prostitution as young as 13 years of age, to be forcibly examined by a physician. Institutions referred to as “lock hospitals” were established and setup so that women suspected of spreading disease could be detained and examined, and if they were positive in their evaluation, they could then be incarcerated for up to 3 months. It never occurred however to the English government that men could also spread sexually transmitted infections and diseases which is why men were immune from this legislation and a key reason as to why the problem was never resolved. Because of this, in 1886, this legislation was repealed

How German Composer Johann Sebastian Bach Inserted His Surname into Musical Compositions

Leave a comment

Johann Sebastian Bach relished inscribing his surname into his music in all sorts of contexts but this can only be performed in German as in English the letter “H” doesn’t exist within music as it does in German. Bach would insert his name with the notes “B”, “A”, “C”, and “B Natural” which is “H” in German. This motif is a form of musical cryptogram and is most well renowned within Bach’s The Art of Fugue (Contrapunctus XIV) composition. These notes when played in unison have an appealing resonance which compliment many musical scores without any need for alteration. Many composers who have come after Bach have also used the BACH motif within their own compositions as a tribute to Bach, his work, and his legacy including composers Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, and Arnold Schoenberg among others

The Parasol and the Advent and Evolution of the Umbrella

1 Comment

Parasols, the precursor to the umbrella, were initially comprised of tree leaves, specifically eucalyptus and palm branches. The original intent of the parasol was to stop ultraviolet radiation from the sun, from penetrating the skin and causing it to become tan. The term “parasol” is derived from the French term “para” which means “to shield from”, from the root Latin term “parare” (pronounced “pah-rah-ray”), and the French term “sol”, which means “sun”. Parasols and umbrellas can be separated by their appearance as parasols are typically colorful and lively whilst umbrellas are generally solid, muted colors (e.g. black, grey, white etc.). It was not until the 1750’s when English philanthropist Jonas Hanway began carrying an umbrella in public with the intent to avoid rain that the idea caught on as a social trend and a new technology. Umbrellas up until the 19th century were heavy, weighing approximately 10 lbs. as they were comprised of whale bone with wooden rods setup to support the canvas. In the 1920’s, Hans Haupt helped usher the next generation of umbrellas in by inventing the foldable umbrella, the same kind of umbrella used during the modern day

The Etymology of the Gaelic Spirit Whisky

2 Comments

The Gaelic term “uisce beatha” (pronounced “ish-kah bahh”) translates to mean “water of life” and was originally intended to be used as the name for Scottish whisky. The term was shortened to “uisce” (pronounced “oosh-key”) which is where the English term “whisky” is derived

The First Time a Woman and a Queen Illegally Published a Book in England

Leave a comment

Queen Catherine Parr was an outspoken evangelist and believed that God had selected her to marry King Henry VIII so that she could spread the good news of the new religion of Protestantism, even going so far as to publish a book entitled “Prayers or Meditations” in 1545 which consisted of a collection of Latin religious texts translated into English, an unprecedented act as it marked the first time a book was published in English by a woman, compounded by the fact that this was the first time a book was published by an English queen. The book became a best seller instantaneously but the publishing of this book was technically illegal as women were not permitted to spread the word of God, and especially not in the English language

The First Use of Spaces In Writing

Leave a comment

 

Ancient Greek writing did not observe spaces as modern day written language does so all words were connected, forming a continuous string of text. Aerated text with irregular spaced intervals did not develop until the late 7th century A.D. and standard modern day spacing after each term did not develop until the 11th century A.D. Ancient Greek writing also observed the practice of Boustrophedon (pronounced “boos-trah-fee-don”) which is when text is written and read right to left instead of left to right as modern day English and most other, however not all other, world languages do (e.g. Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew etc.)

The Person Who Invented Ecommerce

Leave a comment

Michael Aldrich was an English inventor, innovator and entrepreneur who in 1979, invented the concept of ecommerce, enabling online transaction processing between consumers and businesses. Aldrich achieved this feat by connecting a modified television set to a transaction processing computer which could process purchases in real time via dedicated telephone line. This system entitled “Videotex” had a simple menu driven, human to computer interface, which predated the internet by more than a decade. In 1980, Aldrich invented the Teleputer, a multipurpose home information and entertainment centre which was a combination of the personal computer, television, and telecom networking technologies. Aldrich created the Teleputer using a modified 14” color television which was connected to a plinth containing a Zilog Z80 microprocessor running a modified version of the CP/M operating system and a chip set containing a modem, character generator and auto-dialler. The Teleputer operated as a stand alone, color, personal computer during an era when computer screens were primarily monochromatic. The Teleputer contained software and networking capabilities using dial up or leased telephone lines. The Teleputer system itself included 2 floppy discs, each with 360 kilobytes of memory, later upgraded to a 20 megabyte harddrive, a keyboard, and a printer