Aretronym is a newer name for something thatdifferentiates it from something else that is newer, similar, or seen in everyday life, thus avoiding confusion between the two.[1][2]
The termretronym, aneologism composed of thecombining formsretro- (from Latinretro,[3] "before") +-nym (from Greekónoma, "name"), was coined byFrank Mankiewicz in 1980 and popularized byWilliam Safire inThe New York Times Magazine.[4][5]
In 2000,The American Heritage Dictionary (4th edition) became the first major dictionary to include the wordretronym.[6]
The global war from 1914 to 1918 was referred to at the time as theGreat War. However, after the subsequent global war erupted in 1939, the phraseGreat War was gradually deprecated. The first came to be known asWorld War I and the second asWorld War II.
The first bicycles with two wheels of equal size were called "safety bicycles" because they were easier to handle than the then-dominant style that had one large wheel and one small wheel, which then became known as an "ordinary" bicycle.[7] Since the end of the 19th century, most bicycles have been expected to have two equal-sized wheels, and the other type has been renamed "penny-farthing" or "high-wheeler" bicycle.[8]
TheAtari Video Computer System platform was rebranded the "Atari 2600" (after its product code, CX-2600) in 1982 following the launch of its successor, theAtari 5200, and all hardware and software related to the platform were released under this new branding from that point on. Prior to that time, Atari often used the initialism "VCS" in official literature and other media, but colloquially the Video Computer System was often simply called "the Atari."[9]
The television seriesStar Trek became known asStar Trek: The Original Series to distinguish it from itsfranchise.[10]
The first film in theStar Wars franchise released in 1977 was simply titledStar Wars. It was given the subtitle "Episode IV: A New Hope" for its 1981 theatrical re-release, shortly after the release of its sequelThe Empire Strikes Back in 1980.[11] Initially, this subtitle was limited to the opening text crawl, as all three films in theoriginal Star Wars trilogy (Star Wars,The Empire Strikes Back, andReturn of the Jedi) were still sold under their original theatrical titles on home media formats (such as VHS and Laserdisc). It was not until their 2004 DVD releases that the titles of the individual three films were changed to match the pattern of theStar Wars prequel trilogy (e.g.Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope).
In the 1990s, when the Internet became widely popular andemail accounts' instant delivery common, mail carried by thepostal service came to be called "snail mail" for its slower delivery compared to email.
Advances in technology and science are often responsible for the coinage of retronyms. For example, the termacoustic guitar was coined with the advent of theelectric guitar,[4]analog watch was introduced to distinguish from thedigital watch,[5]push bike was created to distinguish from themotorized bicycle, andfeature phone was coined to distinguish from thesmartphone. Likewise,visible light refers toelectromagnetic radiation on the narrowvisible spectrum, andwater ice was coined to distinguish the solid state ofwater (including exotic forms) from the solid state of othervolatiles such as carbon dioxide and argon.
(Strauss:) ... thanks ... to the Sci-Fi Channel ... which brought the original series back to TV Tuesday night. Dubbed 'Star Trek: The Original Series', scenes that were cut from episodes that aired in syndication have been restored, and shows have been digitally remastered and color-corrected.