Language varies depending on time and circumstance
In order to search for historical sources, it's helpful to recognise a range of relevant terms, understand their meaning and any special significance they had in the past.
Popular terms, phrases and spellings can change over the years and vary in different countries. For example, "First World War" only came into use around the start of the "Second World War" – before that it was sometimes called “The Great War".
Names may often have been written as abbreviations or referred to in colloquial or slang terms. For example, variations on the name "William" may be 'Will", "Bill" or "Wm." or someone might only be referred to by their nickname, e.g. "Edward Dunlop" is commonly known as "Weary Dunlop".
And a warning note: It's important to understand and be prepared when searching historical primary sources that you may sometimes encounter historical language, words and descriptions that reflect the attitude of the author at the time and the period in which the item was written, but which may now be considered offensive or distressing.
