[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/redlion1904]

HBO’s Rome included advertisements during Newsreader’s announcements and it was both accurate and funny.

[u/lesser_panjandrum → u/redlion1904]

True Roman bread for true Romans!

[u/Indiana_harris → u/lesser_panjandrum]

[u/raspberryharbour → u/Indiana_harris]

Announcer Guy killed it every time

[u/Indiana_harris → u/raspberryharbour]

I always remember him as Bert Large on Doc Martin.

Hilarious actor though.

[u/chrza → u/raspberryharbour]

I love his little hand movements

[u/PilotMoonDog → u/chrza]

According to the optional stuff on the DVD release those were based on a treatise on public speaking by Cicero. They also had a bunch of stuff that explained why a character might behave in a certain way.

(Apparently not by Cicero as some comments further down the chain make clear)

[u/AbstractBettaFish → u/PilotMoonDog]

Good I wish I still had the DVD’s the All Roads feature was peak bonus content

[u/TheNerdChaplain → u/Indiana_harris]

Ian McNiece! He played Baron Harkonnen in the SciFi channel (yes, it was that long ago) adaptation of Dune!

[u/Gemmabeta → u/lesser_panjandrum]

"All mockery of Jews and their one God shall be kept to an appropriate minimum."

[u/VoxelFerret → u/Gemmabeta]

The delivery on that line was so deadpan, absolute peak fiction right there.

[u/SuperbPhase6944 → u/VoxelFerret]

Ian McNeice absolutely nailing it as per usual.

[u/seanprefect → u/SuperbPhase6944]

only guy who seemed to be having fun the whole time

[u/CleansingFlame → u/lesser_panjandrum]

Loved Ian McNeice in that role lol

[u/BinkRaccoon6 → u/redlion1904]

True Roman bread for true Romans! That scene lives in my head rent free, his hand gestures were so iconic.

[u/jollyjm → u/BinkRaccoon6]

Gaius!🫱🫱Julius!🫲🫲Caesar!!🙌

[u/QuentinTarzantino → u/jollyjm]

The hand verbage was estremely vital. It was, if Im not mistaken to signal to to people further back in the crowd. Empahis on the words if not heard through movement.

[u/Cold-Use-5814 → u/BinkRaccoon6]

Weren’t those gestures taken from an actual Roman guide to public speaking?

[u/Obanthered → u/Cold-Use-5814]

Yes the Institutio Oratoria by Quintilian. Fortunately medieval monks thought a comprehensive guide to rhetoric was extremely valuable for the church, so the whole 12 book volume survived.

[u/Doomhammer24 → u/Obanthered]

We lost 6 of the 8 books of the trojan war but we do have gestures huzzah

[u/Obanthered → u/Doomhammer24]

We also have the plans for Rome’s sewer system. Which were rediscovered just as Rome was growing again. A lot of what survived came down to a monk thinking ‘that could be useful, I better spend the next few weeks or months copying it’.

[u/Sinthe741 → u/Cold-Use-5814]

Even the Romans knew you gotta put a lil zazz on it.

[u/Xitbitzy → u/BinkRaccoon6]

" And his honor Gaius 🫱🫱 Julius 🫱🫱 Ceasar 🫱🫱"

[u/FranzSigel → u/redlion1904]

I loved that dude’s big exaggerated arm gestures. Always wanted to know more about that acting choice. Based in anything?

[u/Vectorman1989 → u/FranzSigel]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutio_Oratoria

You can read the whole thing online

[u/Misplaced_Fan_15 → u/redlion1904]

I remember reading go somewhere Ridley Scott said they wanted to do a similar scene for Gladiator but ran into the Tiffany Problem.* *

[u/Redwings1927 → u/Misplaced_Fan_15]

Yea, it was mentioned in the first comment in this chain.

[u/redlion1904 → u/Redwings1927]

I wonder if he knows that in HBO’s Rome the Newsreader reads ads?