Grown-ups like to make cranky noises about how people shorten words these days—but people have been shortening words since long before we had cells and Twitter. In The New York Times, Ben Schott explains how the above abbreviations—obsolete neologisms, really—were used in the days of the telegraph: The 140-character limit of Twitter posts was guided by the 160-character limit established by the developers of SMS. However, there is nothing new about new technology imposing restrictions on articulation. During the late 19th-century telegraphy boom, some carriers charged extra for words longer than 15 characters and for messages longer than 10 words. Thus, the cheapest telegram was often limited to 150 characters. Concerns for economy, as well as a desire for secrecy, fueled a boom in telegraphic code books that reduced both common and complex phrases into single words. Dozens of different codes were published; many catered to specific occupations and all promised efficiency. The phrases [above] are from the third edition of “The Anglo-American Telegraphic Code,” published in 1891. posted on 12.09.09

Grown-ups like to make cranky noises about how people shorten words these days—but people have been shortening words since long before we had cells and Twitter.

In The New York Times, Ben Schott explains how the above abbreviations—obsolete neologisms, really—were used in the days of the telegraph:

The 140-character limit of Twitter posts was guided by the 160-character limit established by the developers of SMS. However, there is nothing new about new technology imposing restrictions on articulation. During the late 19th-century telegraphy boom, some carriers charged extra for words longer than 15 characters and for messages longer than 10 words. Thus, the cheapest telegram was often limited to 150 characters. Concerns for economy, as well as a desire for secrecy, fueled a boom in telegraphic code books that reduced both common and complex phrases into single words. Dozens of different codes were published; many catered to specific occupations and all promised efficiency. The phrases [above] are from the third edition of “The Anglo-American Telegraphic Code,” published in 1891.

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  1. pandemian reblogged this from obsoletethebook
  2. lonita reblogged this from obsoletethebook
  3. companionablesniffles reblogged this from beyondthegeniusofthesea and added:
    Now it’s my turn: I showed you this first!
  4. beyondthegeniusofthesea reblogged this from obsoletethebook and added:
    Everything’s horrorshow, eh droogs...devotchkas? wait fuck i did it wrong
  5. formosametalpig reblogged this from obsoletethebook and added:
    MANNITE STOP THESE WORDS SHOULD BE USED IN TWITTER STOP MAGAZINE STOP...
  6. cameronr reblogged this from obsoletethebook
  7. obsoletethebook posted this
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