Punch,  33 (1857), 175.

Telegraph and Telegram

A Dublin University Poet

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Electricity, Language, Ancient Authorities, Controversy, Universities, Commerce


    Punch's response to the controversy over the word 'telegram', which classical scholars have criticised for being based on improper analogies with ancient Greek. The author laments the 'bother [...] About using one letter instead of two' and questions why the Greeks should 'teach us' to define 'the spark in the wire'. Ridiculing the debate about which Greek letter should end the word, suggests that attention should instead be directed to the high cost of telegrams and the poor spelling of clerks.



© Science in the Nineteenth-Century Periodical Project, Universities of Leeds and Sheffield, 2005 - 2020

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