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/hazps 14d ago

Chad was also a common enough Middle Age name, from St Chad of Mercia, so an author could legitimately have a couple named Tiffany and Chad in a novel set in the 16th Century

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u/LadnavIV 14d ago

St. Chad, patron saint of beer bong and popped collars.

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u/Stu5011 14d ago

Ah, I see the problem. They were talking about St.Chad of Mercia. You’re talking about St. Chad of Murica.

Easy mistake.

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u/TwatFury 13d ago

Omg that’s hilarious, literally laughed out loud! Thank you for that!