stereo-
In a different thread today, RREEBB wrote, humorously:
>Just a crazy thought…if you use two monotype machines does it become stereotyping?
The “stereo” in stereotyping doesn’t mean “two,” it means “solid.” A stereotype is a solid plate (vs. a form of individual types).
Stereoscopic vision is “solid” or 3-D vision (which happens to require two eyes). Stereophonic sound was named by analogy to this. It happens to require two speakers. But the root “stereo-” itself has nothing to do with “two-ness.”
(“Mono” does mean “one,” and “monaural” and “monophonic” both existed before stereophonic (sound) as words which didn’t quite mean what they came to mean after Western Electric named “stereophonic sound” and all of a sudden we needed words to describe non-stereophonic sound. Isn’t language fun!?)
Regards,
David M.
www.CircuitousRoot.com
David;
While thinking about your comments, had another crazy thought…would typing with two typewriters not qualify as stereotyping…but would it qualify as monotype because you only hit one letter at a time! Sorry…my mind is in a crazy sense of humor today.