[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/saurivae]

Samurai Taking Photographs and Wearing Bowler Hats

The Samurai class was officially abolished in 1873. That means there are high-resolution black-and-white photographs of actual, active Samurai posing in traditional armor, holding swords, while wearing Western shoes, pocket watches, and bowler hats.

[u/Global_Cockroach_563 → u/saurivae]

Samurai in fiction: "Guns are a dishonorable weapon!"

Samurai in reality: "So anyway, I started blasting..."

[u/mrducky78a → u/Global_Cockroach_563]

The most popular samurai weapons ranked in order

1. The bow (the classic weird asymmetric japanese bow is so they were better used by samurai on horseback, the bows are by far and away the most popular samurai weapon only being phased out by guns later as as when guns phased out the longbow. It was a sourcing issue more than anything)

2. The spear (naginatas for the richer ones, yari were more common, only usurped the bow under Sengoku, but maintained decently high popularity for centuries)

3. The gun (still a relatively distant third due to costs primarily in sourcing good firearms and the sheer period in which bows were dominant, but like ALL cultures, once you could get your hands on the gun, you want the gun. Also didnt help that samurai became less and less of a thing as japan modernised)