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osberend t1_j7cay5n wrote

Reply to comment by McLeansvilleAppFan in Lead Plates and Land Claims in North America and Europe: When did the practice begin of burying lead plates to establish ownership of land, and why did it die out, and was it ever used successfully in a court of law to establish ownership? by whyenn

In fact, I'm pretty sure that the whole reason it's spelled "lede" is to distinguish it from "lead" (as in, the metal), because of the latter's role in (historical) typesetting.

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ramriot t1_j7chord wrote

That is my understanding, the use of lede for this meaning was for instructions to the printer in such a way that inclusion is a typographic mistake.

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QuickSpore t1_j7cy867 wrote

The modern spelling of lede is super recent. When I was in my journalism program in the 1990s it was almost always “bury the lead.” It’s only after about 2000 that the industry switched over to the lede spelling.

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BeatlesTypeBeat t1_j7d2061 wrote

This page says it was first used in 1965 but I could see it taking a few decades to catch on everywhere.

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QuickSpore t1_j7d3g84 wrote

That wouldn’t surprise me. Things can have decades long backgrounds before they become commonly known.

It definitely wasn’t in use at my school, my internships, or my first couple jobs. It’s interesting that according to Merriam-Webster they didn’t recognize lede as an appropriate variant spelling till 2008. That vibes with my experience trying to stay in the journalism industry.

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