Wood on Words: A long-distance discussion of all things ‘tele'

Ah, early March, and the telemarketers are in bloom. Or maybe I was just having a bad 24 hours.

Since the early days of humans' application of electricity to mass communication, "tele-," from the Greek for "far off," has been the prefix of choice for inventing words to keep up with innovations in technology.

It's the constantly changing world of "telecommunications."

The cycle began with the "telegraph," which sent coded messages by electric current, often translated into a "telegram." The most popular form of code was the Morse code, often mispronounced "Morris," named for its inventor, Samuel F.B. Morse.

Morse, working with several collaborators, obtained the U.S. patent for the telegraph in 1840. He demonstrated its capabilities in 1844 by sending the message "What hath God wrought!"

"Telegraph" also has become an informal verb for unintentionally sending a signal to someone about an impending move or plan.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell introduced the "telephone," a device that has undergone such a transformation that it doesn't even need wires anymore. It inspired the slogan "Reach out and touch someone," but of course the touching wasn't literal.

In the same vein, there's "teleconferencing," allowing us to have meetings where no one actually meets.

Tearing a telephone book in half became a sort of sideshow standard for demonstrating strength. "Let your fingers do the walking," let your hands do the ripping.

And where would Superman be without all of those telephone booths for his rapid costume changes? Probably under arrest for public indecency.

I can remember a joke from my youth: The three fastest ways to spread information are telegraph, telephone and "tell a woman." Today, it's probably not wise to "tell a joke" like that.

The next "tele-" advance was "television." The first demonstration of a practical TV system was in 1929, but 10 years passed before NBC began the first regular programming in the United States.

From that medium have come "televise," "telecast," "teleplay," "telegenic" (when the camera loves you), "teleprompter" (which is no longer a trademark so it doesn't have to be written "TelePrompTer"), "telethon" (thank you, Jerry Lewis) and "televangelist."

Now we're in the computer age, and new terms are popping up so fast I can't keep up with them - or understand them. And although "telecommuting" is growing in popularity, "tele-" seems to be on the wane.

But before bidding farewell to "far off," a few words about "far out."

Parapsychologists study the potential of minds to communicate "by some means other than the normal sensory channels" and even to make objects move. The former, involving such terms as "transference of thought" and "extrasensory perception," is called "telepathy," and the latter is "telekinesis."

Another far-out concept is "teleportation," which is the theoretical (sorry, "Star Trek" fans, we're not there yet) sending of matter through space by converting it into energy at one end and reconverting it at the other.

Outer space is the ultimate far off, and one of the chief tools for exploring it is the "telescope," which has been around since 1608. Four hundred years later, the Hubble Space Telescope is allowing us to see farther away than ever, possibly to the end of space and the beginning of time.

Now that's far out, man.

Barry Wood is a copy editor at the Register Star. Contact him at bwood@rrstar.com.