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Topic: Why is ''lede'' spelled that way?
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| Author | Message |
| grrich | Posted – 4/13/2005 2:57:59 PM | show profile Just wondering. Does anyone know? I guess this is in the same category as ''Why is TK spelled TK and not TC?'' |
| zinny | Posted – 4/13/2005 3:39:01 PM | show profile I've heard that it was to distinguish between the ''lead'' that the movable type was made of. (But how often could these possibly been confused? An editor said, ''Get rid of this lead,'' and a newbie went out and bought new type letters? Maybe this is an urban publishing legend.) |
| mpetry | Posted – 4/13/2005 3:43:33 PM | show profile Same reason why ''hed'' and ''dek'' are spelled that way -- so there is no chance of them being taken for ''real words'' and accidentally making it onto the printed page. They are spelled wrong to serve as red flags that will be caught by copy editors, spell-check programs, etc. (At least that's what I was taught...) |
| Gern Blansten | Posted – 4/13/2005 4:48:29 PM | show profile It's actually an acronym which has origins deep in the dark ages when taverns were desperate for money and barkers would stand outside the door calling to passers by in an attempt to lure them inside. In those desperate times the standing rule was to ''Let Every Derelict Enter''. This practice carried itself into the age of the printing press, in that, once people started to read, the desire to generate interest by the bookmakers resulted in book jackets with L. E. D. E. printed in the lower left corner. Since the most educated of people happened to be men, these letters indicated that one might see Ladies of the Evening Dressed Evocatively inside... the problem, obviously, was that no one knew what the word ''evocatively'' meant, therefore, it was a monumental failure. The interesting thing is that the letters ''lede'' are still used for the purpose of ''attraction'', even today. Neat, huh? |
| angelo | Posted – 4/13/2005 5:28:29 PM | show profile I love this question, and Glan's answer is the best. I think zinny is right, at least it coincides with MB's own definiton and makes the most sense (with TK being short for tokum, a purposeful misspelling). ''Lede'' is the way Chaucer speeled ''lead'' (Middle English). In my newspaper days I just wrote all not-for-publication remarks in all caps. That seems to catch your eye, too. |
| jmm | Posted – 4/18/2005 10:49:20 AM | show profile http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001128 |
| belinda | Posted – 4/18/2005 11:06:08 AM | show profile >>An editor said, ''Get rid of this lead,'' and a newbie went out and bought new type letters? << In the old days, type was made in-house from molten lead. The machine that did this was massive and hot -- if you ever hear someone refer to ''hot type,'' these are the times they mean. Other accessories and gizmos also had colorful names. Ask an old-timer about turtles, the hellbox or dingbats. |
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