Writing about writing

Way before paper was invented, we had papyrus (a thick writing surface made from a papyrus plant); and even before that we had vellum, made of calfskin (which it literally means). What has remained, as was intended, is writing.

In Latin, we have “scribe” as its root. So anything written down, simply becomes a script, or informally, a scribble. When you take a good top-to-bottom look at something, you describe (or colonize, if you’re into that). The act of copying down a piece of writing, converting it from one medium to another, becomes transcribing.  In the good ol’ days (of any time before 2016) you could sign at the bottom of the paper and give your name for a magazine or pamphlet to be delivered to you periodically. This is called subscribing. You can also click at the bottom of the video and be notified of the creator’s periodic uploads. Sometimes, you need a written direction before you can get your hands on something, such instructions are called prescriptions. You get the general idea.

As usual, we have its counterpart in Ancient Greek in “-graph”. And as usual it was adopted better by the science department leaving the rest of us with the Latin one. Any instrument used to take “readings” is a -graph (or an -inator if you’re being truthful). The difference between “meters” and “graphs” is entirely pedantic, and depends on usage. So a sphygmograph later became a sphygmomanometer as it was adopted by the English doctors and “meters” is derived from Middle English “mete” which means “to measure”.

Whatever you receive in written form from these machine becomes a “-gram”. So you have sonograms, cardiograms, etc. Something which quickly shares sharing such “grams” therefore is Instagram, and if you become insta-famous people will get in lines to add something written by you in your own handwriting (or your autograph) to their collection. The rock from which you get the stuff to write with (a pencil) perhaps, is graphite. But you can write with lights, great you’re a photographer; you write beautifully, you’re a calligrapher; and so on.