Archaic Printing Terms

"Though an angel should write, still 'tis devils must print."

- Thomas Moore, the Fudge Family in England

We can sometimes feel overwhelmed with the prolific adoption of new terminology as technology races ahead and we strive to give designation to what we do. Slang terms, acronyms, abbreviations and technical terms make up the printer's vocabulary. To the layman "shooting, stripping, and burning" bring up entirely different mental images than to the printer. Sometimes the confusion can be humorous. This was true 100 years ago as much as it is today.

The words and abridged definitions below were taken from the "American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking" printed in 1894 and The American Encylopaedia (sic.) of Printing published in 1871. They were selected at random for their present obscurity, poetic ring, or in this writer's opinion, the humorous mental image they conjure. What is your first image of the meaning before reading the definition?

• Anaglyptography - Another name for embossing. (Embossing is easier to spell.)
• Apocope - The cutting off or omission of the last letter or syllable of a word. (We've often needed a word to describe thi )
• Bath Note - The name of legal size (8-1/2 x 14) paper. (Could it be lawyers wrote in the tub?)
• Bastard - A description, used often and liberally, for any odd or unusual thing. (No comment!)
• Bottle-arsed - When a letter is wider at the bottom than the top (Oh, this is too easy!)
• Old Pelt - An old pressman. (We've known a few of these!)
• Out of Truth - a book that is not cut square. (Possibly a political publication.)
• Out of His Time - an apprentice who has completed his apprenticeship. (Could also apply to "Old Pelts.")
• Clearing Pi - Picking up a mixed pile of type. (What the press department did at the last company picnic.)
• Crotchets - Old term for brackets used in typesetting. (We used to work for a Crotchet.)
• Dead head - Reporters or anyone who constantly got in free to paid events. (Some still do.)
• Dodger - Printed advertisement for the theater. (Sounds like what some customers do when the invoice arrives.)
• Double Royal - A larger size of paper. (What the boss orders after a very bad day.)
• Fat - Work yielding large profit for very little labor. (Never heard of this concept!)
• Friars - Light patches cause by imperfect ink of the form. (No comment)
• Glair - Egg white used a glue with gold leaf in bookbinding. (What we see on the bald head of the foreman.)
• Gloss - Comment or note meant as an explanation of the text. (See glair.)
• Grub Street - Low class literature named for famous street in London ( Wonder where they print the tabloids?)
• Naked Form - A form of type waiting for or stripped of the wooden furniture that held it in place on the press. (Sounds like the pressman's calendar.)
• Note of Admiration - an old name for an exclamation mark ! (What you got instead of a raise!!!)
• Objectional Man - the person who distributes or returns type to the case that is more difficult than usual. This type was objectional to the other typesetters. The objectional man got a higher wage. (Imagine putting this job title on an application for employment)
• Scabby - uneven or rotten color in printing. (What we went to the dermatologist for.)
  Short Sort - type that is about to run out. (No comment!)
• Wetting Down - The process of wetting paper in water prior to printing. Printing papers sometimes had a rough surfaces and the process of wetting allowed the metal type to make a better impression. (See "Double Royal")
• Working in Pocket - Typesetters who worked on a job together and split the pay equally. (Have a bother-in-law like that?)
• Wayzgoose - (or Wayzegoose) a holiday or party for the benefit of the printers. Originally it meant a fat goose suitable for stuffing. Another name for a printer's party was "beanfest". (Supposedly the later originated in a less prosperous shop.).

Copyright (C) 1999 by Frank Granger

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