The past is a foreign country

[cimorene]

I've learned a few things by accident reading Miss Mapp by EF Benson, published in 1922 in England, which have made me do a double-take.

1. “Baffling,” in fact, was a word that constantly made short appearances in Miss Mapp’s vocabulary, though its retention for a whole year over one subject was unprecedented. But never yet had “baffled” sullied her wells of pure undefiled English.

   
   
   Apparently "baffled" and "baffling" were controversial new vocabulary in provincial England at the beginning of the 1920s!
   



2. Of course they both kept summer-time, whereas most of Tilling utterly refused (except when going by train) to alter their watches because Mr. Lloyd George told them to;

   
   
   Apparently the institution of Daylight Savings had die-hard opponents at large who refused to acknowledge it.
   



3. his intolerance of any who believed in ghosts, microbes or vegetarianism,

   
   
   I have to conclude that this was a cultural moment in which this was a plausible combination of things to reject as dubious or revolutionary, as opposed to the passage being intended to illustrate the character in question being completely bonkers.
   

Comments

[viggorlijah]

My dad was very particular about the word stuff and when it could be appropriately used as a verb/noun etc because it was uncouth slang when he was little. Words like baffle/baffling being picked up on is quite likely!

And I do remember reading in accounts the summer time as a phrase when daylight was introduced - debates over whether to change the central town clock or keep it as traditional.

[cimorene]

Yeah, it seems like the kind of use that could become popular slang. Wiktionary has quotes of it from as early as the 17th century though! So while I definitely believe it was a popular target of peevers, as usual they were wrong about its newness.

That's really funny about "stuff". Now you mention it, I have noticed it was a fabric in the 19th century.

[msilverstar]

Well we have people who believe in various combinations of aliens, QAnon, non-vaccination, chemtrails, The Rapture.

[cimorene]

Yes, but I was surprised to think there were people who considered health fads, psychic phenomena, and microbes - a scientific revolution that came about in in the 19th century, I think? and was well-established as the foundation for treating various diseases by this point - all under the same umbrella. It's like saying "I can't stand UFO-hunters, people who believe in vaccination, or vegans!" By rejecting established science this character seems to group himself with the conspiracy theorists and health faddists in general, but by the other two he says he despises them.

[msilverstar]

Yeah, so weird!