The word cossist comes from the Italian cosa, meaning thing. The cosa was the mystery that algebra was designed to solve -- it was the name given to the unknown quantity in an equation (our modern x).
[T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.
Hundreds of examples remain, still following the same general pattern—maroon, green or chocolate brown, for example, from ground to waist level, then a stale Cheddar cheese shade of cream above.
But often the pieces of information do not fit together and have to be shifted in meaning to confirm with the rest of the sentence. These shifts are called coercion
