Eccentric Flower:199810/grew like who

twenty-two october five p m

grew like who?

I got mail a few minutes ago from Correspondent J in Austin about the postcard below, asking me, "I understood the sword reference, of course, but who or what is Topsy?"

And, you know what? I had no idea. I've just always liked the phrase. Furthermore I am apparently using it correctly (as you shall see) - not to connote rapid growth, but to mean growth which is unplanned, piecemeal, which just sort of happens.

But who or what is Topsy?

I went to two internet search engines and had a look. The phrase, old-fashioned though it may be, actually comes up quite a lot - it's a handy metaphor because the internet, as we all know, grew like Topsy.

But no one actually bothered to explain it.

Two articles came up again and again. Cranky old Vannevar Bush, who has a function room on the Infinite Corridor named after him, wrote an article in 1945 called "As We May Think." This article is one which certain factions find inspirational (you'll see why if you bother to find it and read it, but don't knock yourself out), and it is reprinted on the web in a number of divers places.

The other is an article on "The Internet Regression," which gives the thesis that people act like brats when they get on the net - sending insulting mail, doing rude things, etc.

It's a fascinating thesis, but we're no closer to Topsy.

Finally I found a Bill Machrone column from PC Magazine which gives his explanation. It may not be the true one, but it's the only one we've got.

Ever heard the phrase, "grew like Topsy?" Most people misuse it to mean that something happened quickly, like wildfire. Actually, Topsy was a fabulously successful racehorse. Of his parentage and lineage, his trainer said, "He don't have no lineage. He just growed." The Internet is this decade's Topsy. It just growed. And those of us who use it have to deal with the ramifications.

Indeed.

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