There is a strange concept called the “Tiffany problem,” and despite the name, it has nothing to do with jewelry, an upset woman named Tiffany or an uncomfortable conversation about the credit card bill.
The Tiffany problem occurs when something is historically accurate but feels entirely too modern to be true.
The classic example is the name Tiffany.
Imagine reading a novel set in medieval Europe. A knight rides through the castle gates, removes his helmet and asks to speak with Lady Tiffany.
Immediately, the spell is broken.
Lady Tiffany sounds less like someone waiting in a stone castle and more like someone waiting near the food court at a shopping mall in 1987. You may picture teased bangs, neon earrings and a denim jacket instead of a medieval noblewoman.
Yet Tiffany really is an old name. It developed from Theophania, a name associated with Epiphany, and versions of it were used centuries ago. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources documents its historical use.
The writer could be correct and still be accused of getting history wrong.
That is the Tiffany problem. Sometimes reality does not feel realistic enough.
Tiffany is not the only name that causes trouble. Jason sounds like he should be selling insurance or coaching Little League, but the name belongs to ancient Greek mythology. Chloe also comes from ancient Greece. A writer could place Jason and Chloe in the ancient world and still make readers wonder whether the couple arrived in a minivan.
The same problem applies to technology.
More than 1,900 years ago, Hero of Alexandria described a coin-operated device that dispensed holy water. A worshipper inserted a coin, which pressed a lever and released a measured amount of water. It was essentially an ancient vending machine.
Put one of those in a movie about the Roman Empire and viewers would complain that the filmmakers had become lazy. Add a bag of chips and a glowing “out of order” sign, and it would be nearly indistinguishable from the one in any given laundry mat.
Ancient people also had heated floors, plumbing and fast-food counters. They may not have had an app to order dinner, but city residents could purchase prepared food from street vendors and shops.
Then there are ancient Greek and Roman statues.
We are accustomed to seeing them as elegant white marble figures in museums. In reality, many were originally painted in bright colors and decorated with detailed patterns. Some were even gilded. The paint faded or disappeared over the centuries, leaving behind the plain stone that later generations came to associate with classical art.
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ancient sculpture were colorful, vibrant and richly decorated.
Still, if a movie showed a Greek temple filled with brightly painted statues, plenty of viewers would probably declare that Hollywood had ruined history by making everything too colorful.
Even the abbreviation “OMG” is older than it feels. It appears in a 1917 letter written to Winston Churchill. Apparently, people were shortening “Oh my God” long before text messages, social media and teenagers began answering complete paragraphs with three letters.
Ancient people left graffiti, too. Some of it praised gladiators and recorded their victories. Other surviving graffiti included insults, jokes, names and declarations of affection. The walls of the ancient world suggest human beings have always felt the urge to announce that they were here, they loved someone or they had a very strong opinion nobody requested.
The British Museum notes that graffiti in Pompeii recorded gladiators’ wins and losses, showing that the fighters had devoted fans.
In other words, celebrity culture and sports arguments are not new. The Romans simply had fewer television channels on which to discuss them.
The Tiffany problem reveals how heavily we depend on appearances and assumptions. We imagine history as a serious place populated by people wearing brown clothing and speaking formally. Nobody cracks jokes. Nobody complains about work. Nobody scribbles nonsense on a wall.
But people have always been people.
They bought convenient meals, admired celebrities, made jokes, used abbreviations and complained when someone took more holy water than they paid for.
The Tiffany problem is not limited to history, either. We encounter some surprising fact today and immediately decide it cannot be true because it does not match what we already believe.
“That doesn’t sound right” becomes “That isn’t right” before we take the time to check.
Sometimes our instincts are useful. The internet certainly contains enough nonsense to keep them busy. But “I have never heard that before” is not proof that something is false.
The truth does not have an obligation to sound believable. It does not need to match the movie version of history or fit neatly into what we learned years ago.
Sometimes an ancient temple really did have a vending machine.
Sometimes a Roman sports fan really did write about his favorite fighter on a wall.
Sometimes a medieval woman really could be named Tiffany.
And sometimes the wisest response is not, “That can’t be true.”
It is, “Well, I learned something today.”
Be kind to your neighbors, Be kind to your pets, And be kind to Tiffany, she may have been here much longer than you think.