#retronym

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Retronyms

Acoustic guitar - distinguished from electric guitar

Analog watch - distinguished from digital watch

Bar soap - distinguished from liquid soap, body wash

Brick-and-mortar - distinguished from online businesses

British English - distinguished from American English, Australian English, Indian English, etc.

Combustible cigarette - distinguished from electronic cigarette, e-cigarette, etc.

Corn on the cob - distinguished from corn cut from the cob

Film camera - distinguished from video camera, digital camera

Hot chocolate - distinguished from chocolate bars

Live music - distinguished from recorded music

Manual typewriter - distinguished from electric typewriter

Online - distinguished from offline

Organic food - a long time ago, all food was what we now consider "organic"

Outdoor rock climbing - distinguished from indoor rock climbing

Regular coffee - distinguished from decaffeinated coffee

Rotary phone - distinguished from touch-tone phone

Scripted show - distinguished from reality show

Silent film - distinguished from sound film, talkie

Slow food - distinguished from fast food

Whole milk - distinguished from skim milk, 2% milk, etc.

Retronym

A new term created from an existing word in order to distinguish it from the meaning that has emerged through progress or technological development.

Describes an original after a new version has shown up.

Can be objects (pedal bike), experiences (snow skiing), or even places (meatspace).

Example: Cloth diaper is a retronym necessitated by the fact that diaper now more commonly refers to a disposable diaper.

The oldest print usage that we know of for the word retronym itself is from William Safire's column "On Language" in a 1980 issue of The New York Times. There, he discusses how then-president of National Public Radio, Frank Mankiewicz, collects what he calls "retronyms."

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[oatslemonade]

I could see undertale characters especially Sans and Toriel having an interesting discussion on Retronym

Giving a new name to an old product/idea

Ex, originally all movies were silent. But now, old movies are "silent movie".

So with long lived/immortal characters, this concept must be annoying or fascinating. The amount of "in my day, corn was just corn! Not "corn on the cob!"

[dehex18]

I think my least favorite retronym is probably "VHS Player."

Like, I see why it's happened, but "VCR" just sounds so much nicer to my ears.

[gatesong]

I love the phrase "VHS player" because that's NOT what they're called.

They're called VCRs.

I don't think I ever heard them called VHS players while they were actually in use. Anybody know what kind of coinage that is? I thought maybe it was a retronym but that's not quite it.

[spaceshipsandpurpledrank]

[jmelcr]

My goodreads 📖

Retronym, Tmesis, Capitonym, Bahuvrihi ... what are these words? They are words about ... words.

They may not be the most useful vocabulary, however I definitely had a good time reading about them in the article “10 Fascinating Words About Words”. Definitely a good read!

My favourite ... Portmanteau.

[spiritedobsession]

I was today years old when I finally realized that Harley Quinn is just a retronym for harlequin. And like damn. She went there, huh.

[retronym-podcast-blog]

Another mini episode! This time Mandy and Linda delve into Atomic Blonde which started out as...a graphic novel? The novel and movie could not be more different, but what about these differences makes each one good? Listen as we talk about outfits, music, misogyny, and what makes a good action film.