1455: out of sorts Dec 5, 2018

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Folk-etymologies often are very convenient logically but cannot be corroborated historically. For instance, the phrase 'out of sorts' is often attributed to typesetting, but this cannot be the case. As the claim goes, the 'sorts' in question relate to individual metal type, called 'sorts', that are then distributed into compartments for each letter. With this then, to be 'out of sorts' was to run out of certain letters, but this doesn't have an immediate connection to emotional states, but more importantly this phrase was found much before printing was around. Instead, many people believe that the phrase comes from the Latin 'sortem' meaning 'condition'.

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