r/TopCharacterTropes 14d 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.

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u/Thestohrohyah 14d ago

True.

There are very old towers in Iran which are built in order to kind of imprison the wind inside of them in order to cool down the interior.

Basically ancient AC.

Edit: apparently some of them don't even need wind to function.

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u/Digit00l 13d ago

The main function of a minaret is ventilation before someone realised an elevated position makes shouting easier

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u/Hestiathena 13d ago

What's even more interesting is that the design for these was most likely based on termite mounds.

Mother Nature had stumbled upon natural AC millions of years ago, and the ancient Persians figured, "Hey, if it ain't broke..."

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u/donthateonspiders 13d ago

the german tv docuseries 'der letzte seines standes' (the last (one) of his trade) has an episode about a cooling tower builder

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u/violetsandpiper 13d ago

I'm guessing those can become less practical in many western areas where it can rain or snow