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Clever box

Why have we made all these boxes?

Marc Zao-Sanders
Sep 13, 2023
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Clever box

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How many words can you think of that end in ‘box’? Can you reel off a dozen in a minute? There are loads, 50 of which are at the bottom of this article. 

Why are there so many?

Partly because the word box looks cool. It’s short and ends in an x, like other cool words (fox, fix, mix, hex, lex, max, sax, sex).

But our penchant for boxes isn't just linguistic or aesthetic. It comes from a deep-rooted need. Since humans have been around, we’ve tried to make sense of and bring order to the unseemly chaos we find ourselves in. One of the most effective methods we’ve developed is breaking things down, categorizing, compartmentalising — boxing. Other words serve this same need (cell, room, unit, fence, ringfence).

Ancient civilizations meticulously organized and stored grains in silos, herbs in pots, and scrolls in chambers. These were their "boxes," protective confines that allowed them to protect and manage precious resources and keep order.

The cardboard box was invented in 1817, over 200 years ago. 

We have no better invention all these years later. To this day we keep shoes, pills, mail, jewellery and toys in boxes. It’s simple and it works. Boxes are timeless.

It’s not just the physical. Many of our electronic interactions with people are kept in an inbox. Plenty of us store digital files in a dropbox. We try out new software, safely, in a sandbox. We also divide life up into intervals, periods and eras to help us make our way through — we timebox. 

In a wickedly complex world, the box is a symbol and source of control. 

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50 words ending in ‘box’:

  1. Mailbox

  2. Sandbox

  3. Pillbox

  4. Matchbox

  5. Beatbox

  6. Boombox

  7. Jukebox

  8. Toolbox

  9. Lightbox

  10. Breadbox

  11. Fusebox

  12. Musicbox

  13. Shadowbox

  14. Skybox

  15. Gearbox

  16. Workbox

  17. Snuffbox

  18. Strongbox

  19. Firebox

  20. Icebox

  21. Hotbox

  22. Saltbox

  23. Postbox

  24. Sweatbox

  25. Voicebox

  26. Glovebox

  27. Kickbox

  28. Lockbox

  29. Shoebox

  30. Soapbox

  31. Outbox

  32. Inbox

  33. Dropbox

  34. Blackbox

  35. Bluebox

  36. Chatterbox

  37. Lunchbox

  38. Paintbox

  39. Safebox

  40. Cleverbox

  41. Timebox

  42. Whitebox

  43. Windowbox

  44. Brainbox

  45. Bandbox

  46. Squeezebox

  47. Toybox

  48. Magicbox

  49. Pressbox

  50. Coolbox

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Clever box

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Michael Wilkinson
Sep 15Liked by Marc Zao-Sanders

Thought provoking and interesting, thanks.

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