And what a better place for the word to begin, than - FlipClockFans.com!
I was shocked and dismayed to find that there existed no word, in this whole world wide web, for the flip clock collector. Oh, we have the word horology. But when I looked at sites related to horology (the study and measurement of time), there I found a large hole in the type of clocks that many seemed to see fit to study. Particularly, the 1970s Flip Clocks are routinely left out of the history of clocks.
This is understandable. I get it that when the newfangled digital clocks came on the scene in the late 1960s to early 1970s, teachers everywhere were afraid children would forget how to tell time with the big and little hands of the traditional clock.
And yes, back in the day, they were first described as "Digital Clocks." In fact, there exist flip clocks with "digital" actually printed on the clock and many more original boxes and printed material referring to these clocks as digital clocks. When the electronic digital clocks with their LCD (liquid crystal display) and later the LEDs, came on the scene, people began to more commonly distinguish the electronic digital clock with the terms "digital" and the earlier mechanical digital clocks as "flip clocks."
In addition, the traditional horologist or clock collector, is typically enamored of the shiny metal and wooden antique clocks. In fact, I think they would shudder at the idea of owning a modern plastic clock with it's synchronous electric motor and often plastic gears and clear plastic clock face - very common in flip clocks.
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This is why we at FlipClockFans.com have undertaken the establishment of the new word for flip clock collecting, study and repair.
Define: Horopalettology
horopalettology
noun / ho·ro·pa·let·tol·o·gy
- The study, collection and repair of flip clocks
horopalettologist - Collector of flip clocks; person who studies or repairs flip clocks.
Horopalettology
From horology - The study and measurement of time
and palette - from the Italian "Orologi a palette" - Italian for flip clock.
(orologi is the word for clock, palette as in an artist's pallet - flat board).
In establishing this new word, It was important to have a appreciation for the history of clocks, hence, horology was used. The Italian term for flip clock "Orologi a palette" seemed very appropriate to use for many reasons. While the first clock using plates was the Plato Clock by the Ansonia company in the early 1900s, and New Haven Clock company produced a true flip clock circa, 1937, the Italians started the modern flip clock craze in the 1960s. See Clock History for more information. It's not appropriate to use the word orologi, as that simply means "clock". Palette is the word for a artist's palette, or "thin, flat board." The components that make up the digital display of a flip clock have been called, tiles, pages, flaps, plates, and more. So for historical integrity and consistency, we went to what the original engineers and designers called them, palettes.
When using the word, remember, only double T's. It's easy to try to use double L's.
I realize that "horopalettology" is quite a mouthful, but I believe it has a solid derivation and could become an established word, if we work on it. Below is a screen capture of a google search performed on the day of this word's birth. We'll see how that changes in the weeks and months that follow. You can click the image of the google search to jump to the search page.
