Gregg shorthand, its first manual published in 1888 by Robert Gregg, who initially called his phonetic shorthand system "Light-Line Phonography," evolved along with the business world’s requirements
and vocabulary. Periodic revisions also made it leaner and easier to learn.
Aurelia Schober (b. 1906) was probably schooled in what is now called “Pre-Anniversary” Gregg,
likely that edition’s fifth and final iteration (1916). In 1929 the “Anniversary”
edition superseded it. Mrs. Plath would have taught that edition at Boston
University’s College of Practical Arts and Letters from the time she was hired in 1942 until the “Simplified”
edition of Gregg came out in 1949. The “Simplified” edition was later superseded by
the “Diamond Anniversary” edition (1963-1978), the edition I learned.
No iteration of Gregg is a truly radical departure, but
each can be different enough so that, for example, a single shorthand character
formerly transcribed as “love” now represents the phrase “will have.” Gregg’s
efficiency is such that the stroke representing “d” can also be read as “would,”
“did,” “dear,” “date,” “dollars,” or the suffixes “-ward” or “-hood”; pre-1963
it might also represent the diphthong “ch”. Context is everything. Change the angle slightly and write it as a downstroke instead of an upstroke and it's the letter "j." How to know an upstroke from a downstroke? Context is everything.
