A retronym is a type of neologism coined for an old object or concept whose original name has come to be used for something else, is no longer unique, or is otherwise inappropriate or misleading. The term was coined by Frank Mankiewicz [1] and popularized by William Safire [2] in 1980 in the New York Times. Many of these are created by advances in technology. However, a retronym itself is a neological word coinage consisting of the original noun with a different adjective added, which emphasises the distinction to be made from the original form. A neologism (from Greek νεολογισμός νέος [neos] = new; λόγος [logos] = word) is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ... Frank Fabian Mankiewicz II (born 16 May 1924) is an American journalist. ... William L. Safire on NBCs Meet The Press with Tim Russert. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Words and phrases are often created, or coined, by combining existing words, or by giving words new and unique suffixes and/or prefixes. ...

In 2000, the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edition was the first major dictionary to include the word retronym.[3] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) is a dictionary of American English published by Boston publisher Houghton-Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. ...

Examples of retronyms are acoustic guitar (coined when electric guitars appeared), or Parallel ATA (necessitated by the introduction of Serial ATA) as a term for the original Advanced Technology Attachment. World War I was called The Great War until World War II. A steel string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. ... ATA cables: 40 wire ribbon cable top, 80 wire ribbon cable bottom Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) is a standard interface for connecting storage devices such as hard disks and CD-ROM drives inside personal computers. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict...

Posthumous names awarded in East Asian cultures to royalty after their death can be considered retronyms too, although their birth names will remain unambiguous. A posthumous name (Traditional Chinese: 諡號/謚號 Simplified Chinese: 谥号; Pinyin: shì hào; Romaji: shigō/tsuigō; Revised Romanization of Korean: siho) is a honorary name given to royalty in some cultures posthumously, that is, after the persons death. ...

Careless use of retronyms in historical fiction can cause anachronisms. For example, referring to the "First World War" in a piece set in 1935 would be incorrect — it was known then as the "Great War". Anachronistic use of a retronym could also betray a modern document forgery (such as a description of the First Battle of Bull Run before the second had taken place). A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, where the time the action takes place in predates the time of the first publication -- distinguish and contrast the genre of alternate history. ... Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Irvin McDowell Joseph E. Johnston P.G.T. Beauregard Strength 35,000 effectives 32,500 effectives Casualties 2,896 (460 killed, 1,124 wounded, 1,312 captured/missing) 1,982 (387 killed, 1,582 wounded, 13 missing) The First Battle... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders John Pope Robert E. Lee James Longstreet Stonewall Jackson Strength 63,000 54,000 Casualties 1,747 killed 8,452 wounded 4,263 captured/missing 1,553 killed 7,812 wounded 109 captured/missing The Second Battle of Bull Run...

Entertainment

In entertainment media, a retronym can be applied to a property that becomes a franchise and requires the source property to be differentiated from others in the franchise.

One example is the original Star Trek television series, which in modern times is referred to as Star Trek: The Original Series (abbreviated as ST:TOS) to identify it among the many film and television sequels that Star Trek has spawned. The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ...

Another is the first Star Wars movie to be filmed and released, originally titled simply Star Wars; after the film (and its sequels) became a smash success and prequels were assured, the film was sub-titled Episode IV: A New Hope for all subsequent releases. This article is about the series. ... This movie poster for Star Wars depicts many of the films important elements, such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters Star Wars, retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981 (see note at Title,) is the original (and in chronological...

"Classic" is often applied to the first game in a franchise especially if the sequels are numerically titled, such as the Doom, Quake, and Unreal Tournament series. ( Doom and Doom II are often collectively referred to as Classic Doom to distinguish from Doom 3.) Command & Conquer was frequently referred to as Tiberian Dawn ever since its sequel Tiberian Sun was confirmed, and also because it lent its name to the series. This usage may be derived from what is itself a retronym, the relaunch of Coca-Cola as "Coca-Cola Classic" after the failure of what is now called the New Coke recipe change. Doom (or DOOM)[1] is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is among the landmark titles in the first-person shooter genre. ... Zombies attacking the player. ... Unreal Tournament, UT, (sometimes referred to as UT99 or UT Classic or UT1 to differentiate from Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Tournament 2007) is a popular first-person shooter video game. ... Doom (or DOOM)[1] is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is among the landmark titles in the first-person shooter genre. ... Doom II: Hell on Earth is a first-person shooter video game created by id Software. ... Doom 3 is a science fiction horror first-person shooter computer game developed by id Software and published by Activision on August 3, 2004. ... Command & Conquer, often shortened to C&C, is the original game in Westwood Studios Command & Conquer series of real-time strategy (RTS) computer games. ... Command & Conquer is a real-time strategy series of computer games released by the game developer Westwood Studios, now a part of Electronic Arts. ... The most recent version of the series logo, which appears in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Command & Conquer (often abbreviated as C&C or CNC) is a series of computer real-time strategy games and a single first-person shooter game initially developed by Westwood Studios (1985 – 2003). ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... New Coke was the unofficial name of the sweeter drink introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to replace its flagship soda, Coca-Cola or Coke. ...

See also

• List of retronyms
• -onym
• backronym

Retronymic adjectives Analog/analogue  Describes non-digital devices: analog clock, analog recording. ... Words in English with the suffix -onym (from the Greek onoma which means name) refer to words with a particular property. ... A backronym or bacronym is a type of acronym that begins as an ordinary word, and is later interpreted as an acronym. ...

External Links

• [4] On Language January 7, 2007 Retronym By WILLIAM SAFIRE