Talk:Barber

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It is requested that an image be included in this article to improve its quality, if possible. This image request is specifically for a spinning barbershop pole..

Will this do? Sakurambo 00:53, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Barber Pole?

I've always heard that the red stripe represented blood (rather than blood-stained bandages) and the white either represented cleanliness (rather than clean bandages) or was simply a good, visible contrast to the red.

The explanation about hanging bandages on a pole seems a little far-fetched. Why would a barber hang clean bandages from a pole with dirty ones? For that matter, why would a barber hang clean bandages from pole at all? They're clean. Maybe the barber pole predates the knowledge of germs, but it doesn't predate the knowledge of clean vs. dirty. Obviously, if the barbers were taking the trouble to wash them and hang them to dry, they wouldn't want to let them get the new bandages dirty.

Sometimes a symbol is just a symbol, and isn't based on an actual event. (For instance, I doubt the symbol of the griffin in heraldry came from somebody meeting a lion with an eagle's head.)

The posted explanation doesn't make any sense if you think about it from a realistic perspective. I'm not going to change it or anything, and I'm not an expert on barbers, but I think that part is pretty iffy. Kafziel 19:12, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

On second thought, I am going to change it, since the article was started by an anonymous IP address anyway. I'll wait a few days to see if anyone has any suggestions. Kafziel 19:23, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

The bit about the origins of the barber's pole sounds iffy to me too, but a quick Google shows that everyone else seems to believe this too. Of course, this may be the same bit of information being duplicated everywhere. Anyhow, I wouldn't change it without further documented research. --Iacobus 03:13, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

Since the original claim was not documented I've removed it. Given the clear flaws in this claim (why would someone hang dirty stuff up with clean stuff if they're all going to get tangled up?). Also would you really keep your leaches and blood in the same basin? Sounds a bit bizaree to me since presemuably you'd want your leeches to be hungry. I don't know if leeches take up blood in a basin but even if they don't it sounds to me like you risk 'drowning' them in blood. All in all sounds a rather flawed claim and without further evidence or references, I don't think it's worth mentioning. If you do find a reliable reference, I would suggest you still mention it as a theory not a fact. Nil Einne 20:29, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Barbers & Barbarians

"It is from the Roman (Latin) word 'barba', meaning beard, that the word 'barber' is derived - and hence 'barbarians' as the name used during that period to describe tribes who were bearded."

This is a false etymology. "Barbarian" comes from the Greek words barbaros, meaning "foreign speaker", and barbarizein, "to speak like a foreigner". The word did come into English via Latin (as did most Greek words), but has no connection with the native Latin word barba. (see any standard dictionary, such as the Shorter Oxford)

I have therefore removed the above text from the article. --Iacobus 02:42, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

I am removing the link to barbarian in the see also section--Lehk 03:32, 6 December 2006 (UTC)