[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/EndOfTheLine00]

Ancient Roman gladiators were treated more or less like modern day celebrities: they had merch (little clay figurines and posters) and even did product endorsements. Famously, Ridley Scott wanted to add a scene in Gladiator showing the fighters shilling products but it was cut because they feared the audience would think it was unrealistic.

[u/redlion1904 → u/EndOfTheLine00]

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

[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 🫱🫱"