I highly recommend this delightful Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/1290099410299305984
In summary: Someone reading a historical novel by an acclaimed author noticed some odd ingredients in character's description of making dye. Turns out the ingredients are from a video game; at some time* if you Googled ingredients for dyeing clothes red, you got a list of ingredients from the video game as a top result. Oops!
ob-RYFW, the author who made the error did turn up in the thread and was very gracious about it. Honestly I live in fear of making a blunder like this. It's part of the reason I am verrrry hesitant to read or watch other people's modern recreations of the time period I write in. All of my research goes into a hopper in my brain, from whence I pull out facts and details and period-sounding turns of phrase; the last thing I want is for someone else's anachronisms to get in there along with the real stuff.
* No longer true; now the first result is a Verge story on the same thing: https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2020/...es-of-wisdom-john-boyne-google-search-results
In summary: Someone reading a historical novel by an acclaimed author noticed some odd ingredients in character's description of making dye. Turns out the ingredients are from a video game; at some time* if you Googled ingredients for dyeing clothes red, you got a list of ingredients from the video game as a top result. Oops!
ob-RYFW, the author who made the error did turn up in the thread and was very gracious about it. Honestly I live in fear of making a blunder like this. It's part of the reason I am verrrry hesitant to read or watch other people's modern recreations of the time period I write in. All of my research goes into a hopper in my brain, from whence I pull out facts and details and period-sounding turns of phrase; the last thing I want is for someone else's anachronisms to get in there along with the real stuff.
* No longer true; now the first result is a Verge story on the same thing: https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2020/...es-of-wisdom-john-boyne-google-search-results
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