Saturday, August 24, 2019

Out of Sorts?

August 24, 2019

Where do I get some sorts?

We’ve all had that felling of being “out of sorts,” at one time or another. But how do you get a refill? And where?

Well, according to my internet research, unless you are a typographer working with metal letters, you’re out of luck, as are topographers working in metal letters. There ain’t hardly any of them left today, says he, typing on a PC, which are never out of letters.

So, in case you’re interested: the phrase “out of sorts,” is traced back to the first days of movable type when each metal letter was in its own box, “sorted” as to kind, so to speak, before being placed in a word.

When that box became empty, much to the annoyance of the typographer, he was out of that sort of letter, hence “out of sorts” and thus subject to foul humor.

Which gives us the source of our malady but not a clue how to cure it other than to deal with it and move on.

##