#long s

[yeoldenews]

The excerpt in question from this post...

@itsmedontpanic Oddly enough it's from a British Parliamentary debate about colonial taxation in 1774.

"Mr. Burke" was Edmund Burke, an Irish MP very critical of British policy in the American colonies, and "Mr. Grenville" was George Grenville, the recently deceased former Prime Minister who implemented the Stamp Act.

You occasionally see vampirism used as an allegory for taxation/government overreach/colonialism/capitalism from the mid-18th Century onward.

[houghtonlib]

ſ versus f versus s

A question that often comes up in working with early materials is "why is everything fpelled fo ftrangely?"

It turns out that prior to approximately 1800, there were two different ways to write or print a lowercase letter S. They are known as long S and short S and there was a set of conventions about when to use each one. For readers of the time, they represented exactly the same letter, just as capital and lowercase letters do (the shape makes some sense if you think about taking a modern S and stretching it from the top and bottom). They wouldn't have had any trouble distinguishing a long S from an F, but it can definitely cause some confusion to the modern eye.

A long S is typographically different from an F in one main way--it will either have no crossbar or a short one on the left side only. But a pretty good rule of thumb is, if you're expecting to see an S in a word, it's an S.

[dimity-lawn]

From the Trial Account of Margaret Hicks for Royal Offences (seditious words), 8th April 1719. (Old Bailey Reference Number: t17190408-25)

[silliestcolressfan]

the long s

THE LONG S

it is a NIGHTMARE as someone with astigmatism. it makes me want to rip my hair out, it looks too similar to an f, some of them LOOK like an f. who's bright idea was this?????? are you feeling happy? does this bring you joy? do you rest well in your grave? are you fucking proud of what you've done? this doesn't make sense, why would you create the long s if you're also going to have the rounded s (aka a NORMAL s) along with it???? can we just pick and choose where we use the long s or what???? im going to invent time travel and kill you before you can create the long s you son of a bitch, look out. look fucking out.

[lizziestudieshistory]

This is not the most original observation, I've definitely read about it somewhere, but reading Donne's The Flea with the standard early modern long s truly...errr...highlights the intention behind the poem. For the enlightenment of those who are unfamiliar with Donne or struggle with early modern text, line three reads "It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee"

Early modern typefaces can be a problem, particularly when scanned poorly. However, in this one instance, I think we should only ever print the poem with a long s just to preserve this experience.

[yeoldenews]

Came across this folder again while cleaning out old files, so enjoy...

Seriously though were people in the past just constantly giggling at the word “suck” being written with a long s like was that a thing do you think

[countesspetofi]

Benny Hill--Fad-Eyed Fal (audio only)

That earlier post about the long s made me remember Benny Hill’s “Fad-Eyed Fal.” 

@beggars-opera @yeoldenews

[starberry-cupcake]

the t from james t kirk and the t from william t riker both stand for 'turned on'

[staff]

Tumblr Tuesday: Severance fanart

Shiver me timbers, the Severance fanart in this place is truly spectacular. The innies and outies have really captured your imagination, and holy cow goat, we're here for it. Please enjoy these stunning depictions of the Macrodata Refinement division and their friends and enemies. And please proceed with caution if you're not yet caught up—spoilers for both seasons ahead.

@arloize:

@poreyneel:

@eeriedragone:

@inkgoblinz:

@sir-se:

@voidsuniverse:

@kirbsto:

@sunmossart:

@karhun-kallo:

@emiliaoknes:

@yousharknotpass:

@slothliart:

@cyanid-apple:

@saintclementinearts:

@ironspy:

@forgetlove:

@arloize:

@ramigir:

@aritks:

@thesmilingknights:

@deadcrushing:

@slicklike007:

@dontbadgerme2233:

@that-one-egomaniac:

@glouldie:

[sleepycelestialprincess]

This reminds me of ſome of the many ways in which a particular group keeps others from being able to do ſomething by making the language impoſſible to underſtand unleſs you are in the know.

(((This reminds me of some of the many ways in which a particular group keeps others from being able to do something by making the language impossible to understand unless you are in the know.)))

We can thank Noah Webster for helping to phase out whats known as the long s in American English. He published the "American Dictionary of the English Language" in 1828 leaving out the long s to make reading more accessible to every day people. The long s was used from 8th to early 19th centuries mostly to keep knowledge away from the general public by making texts harder to read.

The long s ( ſ or ſ ) looks a lot like the fetter f. All letter s'es in a word would use ſ except if its the last letter of the word, then it would use s. There were exceptions too. Wikipedia ſ for more info.

—

Another example my wife and I came across when trying to fix stuff in our house. (a 100 year old house that needed a lot of work) It had new-ish modern plumbing and we were replacing the kitchen sink. Pipe sizes do not make any sense! I measured the outside of the pvc drain pipe at ≈1½ inches. I needed to get a fitting. I bought one that was labeled 1½ and it was much to small. Apparently it was a "2 inch" pipe.

We learned that back when pipes were not PVC, the walls of the pipe were much thicker, but pipe size is rated by the inside diameter of the pipe. So an old 2" pipe and a modern "2 inch" pipe have the same inner diameter but the modern pipe is only about 1½ inches wide on the outside.

WTF! Why not just measure the inner diameter if the pipe then?! Yeah, yeah, its the "standard" and thats how it ended up, but thats excesses. The real reason is to keep every day people from being able to fix their stuff! It becomes such a pain to research everything that many people just give up because nothing is labeled as it seams it should be.

There is just not enough time or energy in life to look every term up to figure it out! It doesn't matter how "simple" it seams to those who know about it.

why is shopping for computer shit so difficult like what the hell is 40 cunt thread chip 3000 processor with 32 florps of borps and a z12 yummy biscuits graphics drive 400102XXDRZ like ok um will it run my programmes

[incredubious]

MODERN AU ACESAN !!!! first impressions with a guy who barely passes the No Shoes No Shirt No Service rule

[egophiliac]

last chance to guess what the new round of birthday outfits will be!

[petermorwood]

I've got an in-family example of the Long S still in 20th-Century use (if only just) - this is my Great-granddad (b. 1838) filling in the 1901 Census of Ireland:

And here's a close-up of that Long S used, as was proper in handwriting, as the first S of a pair.

Yes, Discworld fans, my Great-granny was a seamstreẜs.

She was the needle-and-thread kind, not the seamstress-as-euphemism kind, who would have had little use (except in Very Exotic Circumstances) for a top of the line sewing-machine like this one... :->

Guys we gotta up our game the Georgians said fuck more than us

[sui-imi]

Funeral, right

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been seeing some discussion about canon/fanon sans re: papyrus' death, and then i thought, unrelatedly, "hey i wonder what he did with the dust"

[sageshouldknowbetter]

[dawndauce]

season 1 clem is so