Telegraphese for Dummies

Telegraphese is a term that describes a unique way of communicating using telegraphs, which are devices that transmit messages over long distances using electric signals. Imagine you have a friend who lives far away, and you want to send them a message, but you don't have a phone or the internet to do so. You would have to write a telegram, which is a short message that you send through a telegraph machine. However, because sending telegrams used to be quite expensive, people had to find a way to keep their messages short and concise, while still conveying their meaning.

That's where telegraphese comes in. It refers to a specific style of writing or language that developed when people were limited to a certain number of words or characters in their telegrams. In telegraphese, people would leave out unnecessary words and use abbreviations or symbols to represent common phrases or expressions. It's like creating your own secret code using short and simple words.

For example, instead of saying "How are you doing? I hope everything is going well," in a telegram, you might just write "How doing? Hope all well." You see, the message is still understandable, but it's much shorter and to the point. This way, people could save money on their telegrams while still getting their important messages across.

Now, telegraphese isn't used as much today because we have smartphones, email, and other ways of communicating that don't have the same limitations. However, understanding the concept of telegraphese can help us appreciate how people had to adapt their communication styles in the past when faced with challenges such as limited time or resources. So, even though telegraphese might seem a bit old-fashioned, it's an interesting piece of history that reminds us of the clever ways in which people found solutions to their problems.