Transcript of “Off to the Salt Mines”
Hey there, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Mary Lou Brown from Memphis, Tennessee.
I was actually calling in because years ago, 1972, I think, I was a young intern at a newspaper in Memphis.
And I had an eccentric assistant managing editor who would say, Mary Lou, I’m off to the salt mine.
I’m going to the salt mine.
And so, you know, I didn’t know what he meant.
You know, some other people told me, you know, he was going downstairs to check on the paper or something.
But I just didn’t know where that phrase came from.
And so I was curious about it.
And then also a question about when we wrote stories back then before computers, we used to end stories with dash, 30, dash.
And I just knew that meant the end of the story, but I don’t know where that terminology came from.
So I was just curious about it, and I listen to you all every Sunday on my way home from church.
And so I thought, well, I’m going to call and ask you.
Well, Mary Lou, we’re glad you called.
We can handle both of those.
I just want to note that eccentric managing editor is kind of required for the newspaper business.
I was going to say, it’s redundant.
Oh, yes.
So let’s deal with this to the salt mine first.
Unfortunately, it’s got a sad story behind it.
And it originally referred to sending dissidents and prisoners to the Siberian salt mines,
Both before and after the Russian Revolution, where they would serve their time in harsh prison camps.
And upwards of 90% of the people who went there did not leave alive.
And so it was, it’s kind of originally started as a way to say, you know,
I dislike my job and my job is kind of like the Siberian salt mines.
And you will find early examples where when people say, I’m going to the salt mines, they say, I’m specifically going to the Siberian salt mines.
And they mean I’m going to my job or going to do my work or going to do a hard task.
And over the years, it became what we refer to as ameliorated, which is the harshness of the original reference was lost.
And it just became a more gentler term, a gentler reference.
And the original harsh connotation was lost.
Well, that’s very interesting because both of my children are from Russia and one’s from east of Siberia, Komsol Mosque.
Well, there we go.
So that’s very, very interesting.
I’ve read many, many books on Russia, but that never, I guess, never stuck with me.
So that’s interesting.
Here. The other one, to end a bit of writing or a bit of copy with a dash 30 dash or even a hash
Mark, 30 hash mark or a pound 30 pound mark, actually has a really, really complicated story
Because everyone in the newspaper business decided to look into it. And when they didn’t find an
Acceptable answer, they made their own. The Newswriters Handbook by Rob Milton, for example,
Collected 18 different supposed origin stories for it.
And they’re all kind of lacking in the true detail,
The truth that you want there.
You’ll also find other variants like three Xs
Or three pound signs or hash marks,
Whatever you want to call them.
But when I looked into it,
What I found was that you can find people
In the printing business,
Which I think is directly allied
With the newspaper business
And has been for a long time,
As far back as the 1880s discussing its origin.
And one editorial person, remembering from the 1860s, and sure enough, if you look in the 1860s, you can find in a book by a fellow named Oren Wood, it’s called The Plan of Telegraphic Instruction.
He talks about 3030 being a telegraphic code meaning finis, finis, F-I-N-I-S, which means the end.
Like today, we might see the end of a book or a film.
And that code 30 is just one of a long list of numbers used for very common things like hello or thank you or yes or no.
As far as I’m concerned, as far as I can tell, that 30 was simply just the next number in line when they were trying to come up with a list of numbers to represent common expressions.
So they had all these expressions that they needed to use in the telegraph.
Yes, no, thank you, hello, please.
And the next in line for end was 30.
There’s no other meaning to it.
There’s no happy story.
There’s no complicated story at all.
It’s just 30 was the next one.
And then they moved on to 31 for the next expression.
You know, that sounds like it would be something that would be correct, though,
Because, you know, I couldn’t figure anything else out.
Like 31 is, do you understand?
And 32 is, I understand.
So it’s like they’re all really, you know, they’re all like really basic stuff.
Well, thank you for doing that research.
I enjoy listening to your show.
I always learn something.
Oh, it’s our pleasure.
You call again sometime, all right?
Okay.
Thank you.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Take care, Mary Lou.
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