Telephony Redux

For your historic edification (and to correct an impression I may have left here on HH) regarding the definition and pronunciation of TELEPHONY.  I thought it was telephone-y, a clever way to include anything to do with the fascinating new invention, like lines, poles and groups of farmers who got together to string them...but evidently, it was pronounced te-LAF-uh-knee in 1905, and it referred to "the system of telecommunications for the transmission of speech or other sounds", a much broader set of specs.


There's a big difference.  On my way to spend the weekend with the grands on Friday, I heard an expert explain the origins of the word "radio" on Science Friday (NPR).  He used the word "radio-telegraphy" (te-LA-gra-fee), and things clicked.


Here's the transcript: 

Science Diction--The Origin Of The Word ‘Radio’

G'head and read it.  You can spare a few minutes to learn something...well, old.

(BTW, Math Hesch's ring was two long and two short, and it's become the family signal ☺ ).