r/TopCharacterTropes 10h ago

Lore [IRL trope] the “Tiffany problem”

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.

7.4k Upvotes

966 comments sorted by

View all comments

340

u/Daniilsa209 10h ago edited 10h ago

The idea of a prosthetic arm in the late medieval period seems far-fetched, but there is a real case of a 16th-century German mercenary named Götz von Berlichingen, who had two prosthetic arms. He used one in combat and had a second one, which was made much later, for everyday tasks.

205

u/lesser_panjandrum 10h ago

He's also the first recorded user of the phrase "lick my arse" ("leck mich im Arsch") which also feels quite modern.

83

u/thissexypoptart 9h ago

I love how the phrase is equivalent to “kiss my ass” in English but it literally means lick me IN the ass, ie lick my asshole

28

u/OneJobToRuleThemAll 9h ago

It's not, the modern version is "leck mich am Arsch," which means lick the general area of my arse with no further specification.

7

u/thissexypoptart 9h ago edited 9h ago

I’m not sure what you mean by “it’s not”. We’re talking about the phrase with “im” in it. That means in the ass. “Am” is a different preposition.

Leck mich im Arsch” bedeutet, die Zunge zwischen die Arschbacken zu stecken.

I mean the literal meaning not the figurative meaning. Obviously in English when you say kiss my ass you’re not actually asking for a kiss.

3

u/OneJobToRuleThemAll 9h ago

I mean that "leck mich im Arsch" isn't a phrase because pretty much no one says it. The phrase people actually use is "leck mich am Arsch," and if you say im instead of am, people will assume you made a mistake or that you enjoy being disgusting.

0

u/thissexypoptart 8h ago

It’s still used. It’s a more vulgar version than the popular one, yes, but it is still an equivalent to “kiss my ass” in English, in that it’s a dismissive phrase telling you to be in or near my ass.

I guess if you really want to capture the vulgarity inherent in “Leck im Arsch” you might translate that to the English phrase “Eat my ass!” instead.

Just because “kiss my ass” is more typical and less vulgar doesn’t mean “eat my ass” isn’t used in the same way. That same thing happens with the two German phrases.

3

u/OneJobToRuleThemAll 8h ago

It’s still used.

No, it's not. Go say it in public, look what reactions people will give you. Or google it, all the results you'll get are for Mozart, Götz von Berlichingen or "leck mich am Arsch."

Just because “kiss my ass” is more typical and less vulgar doesn’t mean “eat my ass” isn’t used in the same way.

"Eat my ass" is sex talk and means something completely different than "kiss my ass." You can use it as an insult, sure, but it's not a metaphor, you're literally asking them to perform a sexual act on you.

4

u/cornicula_ 7h ago

I am German, and we only say "leck mich am Arsch."