Readers: Last time we talked about words that refer to items or practices that were anachronisms. Here’s more, all of them directly related to technology and electronics.

Hanging up the phone, putting the phone back on the hook, ringing off the hook:

In the early days of telephony, a telephone consisted of a box mounted on a wall and an earpiece connected by a cord that lay on a "hook" fitted with a spring. Lifting it activated the telephone line. The user then was connected to an operator who manually connected him/her through a giant switchboard. The person disconnected by laying the receiver back on the "hook," thus "hanging up" the phone.

Dialing the phone:

Phones morphed from the box-and-earpiece to a desk set in which a handset -- earpiece and mouthpiece together -- lifted and went against your face. (A side note: these handsets were incredibly heavy and were quite popular, and effective, weapons in domestic homicides.) Automation had eliminated the need to have a human "operator" connect the call for you. Instead, phones used what now would be considered neanderthal technology but which at the time was quite groundbreaking.

The phone had a "dial.” It was a plastic or metal ring on a spring with 10 circular openings and a "stop". You stuck your finger in one and turned the dial until you hit the "stop,” then let go. As the dial's spring returned it to its normal position, it made clicks equal to the hole. Stick your finger in the five hole, turn it, let go, and as it returns, you hear five ticks. So did the phone system's electronic brain. You've dialed "5." You moved that dial seven times -- 10 for long distance -- and it "dialed" the number. Phones later went to the 10-button "beep-boop-beep" keyboard, which cellphones lovingly have graphically recreated.

Tune in for tonight's game/Don't touch that dial/Change the channel:

The original television stations broadcast on a range of frequencies set aside by the government. Transmissions were "carried" in those slots in the atmosphere, which became known as "channels." Most towns had three local stations, and to get to them, you turned a big dial on the set. It ranged from 2 to 13 (There was no Channel 1.)  This was "VHF" -- "very high frequency." Soon a second set of channels appeared. It was "UHF" -- “ultra high frequency." It originally went from 14 to 83.

Early remote controls sent a signal to a motor in the set that physically turned the dial. You actually could hear it whirr. Electronic tuning made the “dial” obsolete. And the advent of cable television made the "channel" number superfluous,  but TV stations are heavily invested in branding themselves through their channel numbers, and so they make sure those numbers are still promoted. Loyal viewers still talk to their remote and tell it to switch to cable position 1037 so they can watch the local news on "Channel 4."

Wiring money:

When the telegraph was an important means of communication, banks would transfer money by sending telegrams. Nowadays it's done on the blink of an eye, via an email or an app. No wires. But at last check, you still can do it via Western Union.

Ticker Tape Parade:
In the late 1800s, Wall Street investors got a breakthrough device. Previously, messengers literally ran them the latest stock information from nearby brokerage offices. A new machine was fed by telegraph lines and printed out, on a roll of 1-inch wide paper ribbon, the latest on stocks; volume, prices, changes. The tick-tick-tick of the typing gave the machine its name. (An aside: loyal reader Dr. Baruch Kahana asked about the usage of “uptick” instead of increase. Yep. It’s the ticker.) Electronics had replaced the ticker by the 1970s, but TV business programs still honor it with the "crawl" along the bottom of screens.

Lower Manhattan historically has hosted parades. In October 1886, during one honoring the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street businessmen spontaneously tore up used ticker ribbons and flung the shreds out their windows. A tradition was born. Office workers now toss out the contents of their office shredders, but the nickname continues.

(Special thanks to telephony scholar Al DaValle and engineer Bob Yankowitz.)

Watch this on video! https://youtu.be/ecBECizVWGQ

Next time: Your government at work.

Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police:” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we properly can credit you. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com

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