Compter the Counter, Not the Computer

November 13th, 2008 by Root

Ah compter.. once again my clumsiness amused me.. I mistyped this word while doing a woyano post about poeple.

At first I thought “Compter” really is a ruse, non-existent word.. but i did a quick googel and found out that there is such a thing as Compter. It’s a counter, not a computer. But not a counter as in malls and groceries, but another definition of counter used in prison. That’s what compter is.

HEre’s what wikipedia has to say about compter:

A compter, sometimes referred to as a counter, was a form of small English prison controlled by a sheriff. The inmates were usually civil prisoners, for example dissenters and debtors. Examples of compters include London’s Wood Street Counter, Poultry Compter, Giltspur Street Compter and Borough Compter and the lock-up over the Abbey Gateway, next to St Laurence’s church, in Reading, Berkshire (this was the Compter Gate and the lock-up was known as the Compter).

From Mr. Wikipedia’s defintion, compter looks like a scene from some movies I already seen… a smallprison with one bed, one toilet and several inmates. Compter is like the prison in Stephen King’s The Stand TV special right? The compter where Nick Andros was held prisoner? That’s the first picture of compter that appeared on my head when I first heard or read the definition.

See? COMPTER really is a valid word.. That information is new to me too.. So expect Compter to be posted on Our new Words blog soon!