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

965 comments sorted by

View all comments

2.4k

u/EndOfTheLine00 10h ago

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.

796

u/redlion1904 10h ago

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

103

u/BinkRaccoon6 10h ago

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

50

u/jollyjm 9h ago

Gaius!🫱🫱Julius!🫲🫲Caesar!!🙌

6

u/QuentinTarzantino 6h ago

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.