Copycat

The difference between a ditto machine and a mimeograph machine was raised on Tuesday’s program. I can see why there’s confusion. When you go online, there’s absolutely contradictory material.

Here’s what I remember, having used both in my early teaching career.

The ditto machine used a master sheet that transferred a carbon substance to the back of a white sheet. It was then attached to the drum of a ditto machine and was good for a limited number of copies, perhaps a little over 100 if you were lucky.

The mimeograph used a stencil cut on a typewriter minus the ribbon. Copies came out purple and had a very distinctive smell because of the aniline dye. Since they came out damp, you had to be careful about smudging, but they were good for perhaps 500 copies. You could save and reuse the master.

Of course, the focus in this blog is etymology. Ditto comes from an Italian word (detto) that meant already said or spoken. Originally, it was used with dates, so you wouldn't have to keep repeating the name of the month. In mimeograph, mimeo- comes from a Greek verb meaning to imitate, and –graph came from a Greek verb meaning to write.

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Ditto

Ditto marks in our day look like double commas. They are placed on the line below something already written when you wish to repeat it unchanged. In earlier centuries, it was sometimes indicated by using dots, dashes, or the abbreviation do.

When first used in English in 1625, its use was confined to repeated dates. In time, it expanded to various commercial and bookkeeping uses, and finally worked its way into colloquial expressions. It came to mean an exact copy of anything, and in the early 20th century, it was the proprietary name of an electrically operated duplicating machine manufactured in Chicago.

The word came directly from an Italian participle that meant aforementioned; in turn, that came from a Latin participle meaning [already] said.


SIDEBAR: Beth Ditto/GOSSIP


Now available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts Dictionary, 2nd edition

Check out Mike's program-based books here:
Arbutus Press

or at Amazon.com

Listen to Mike’s program in real time every Tuesday morning, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. EST, by going to wtcmradio.com and clicking on Listen Now. There is now an archive of podcasts. Look under The Ron Jolly Show.

Write to Mike with comments or questions:
wordmallATaol.com
(substitute @ for AT above)

Visit the Senior Corner at http://seniors.tcnet.org