Devoted to technical writing and technical writers

A tabloid is sometimes harshly described as the lowest form of a newspaper, since the genre tends toward the scandalous or the sensational in order to generate interest or sales. But who would have thought that the word would have its origins in medicine?

Prior to the introduction of sweeteners or sugar-coating, most medicines tasted really awful. The firm of Burroughs Wellcome and Company invented the small medicinal tablet, a compressed form of any given remedy which could be taken and swallowed with less difficulty.  Thus, the word TABLOID was used to describe the compressed tablet form that the medicines would take.

Inevitably, the word Tabloid became applicable to any reduced or compressed product.  Thus, when the first news tabloid came out providing condensed news coming from other papers or journals, the medical company that “invented” the word sued and insisted that the word be used only to describe their compressed medicinal pills. Unfortunately, the medicine company lost its case, and, over time, the word was identified with the smaller form newspapers.