Retronyms
I was driving my brother and his wife to the airport the other day when the subject of ‘words’ came up in the conversation. I suppose it is not a usual or general conversation topic for a lot of people, but in our family we all seem to be fascinated with words.
My sister in law asked me if I had ever heard of ‘retronyms’. “No”, I replied. She explained that a retronym is an old word that has been added to for a modern context. ‘Airport’ was one example she gave. ‘Port’ has been around for centuries but planes haven’t, so add air to port and you have airport, a retronym. “Look it up”, she said. So I did.
Retronym: Greek: retro = backwards, + nym/onuma = name
My investigations revealed that retronym is a neogolism. I looked neologism up on Wikipedia:
“A neologism 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. Neologisms are especially useful in identifying inventions, new phenomena, or old ideas which have taken on a new cultural context. The term “e-mail”, as used today, is an example of a neologism.”
So then, a retronym is created, or coined because the original word needs to be changed in some way to show a new development. So then I tried to think of a few for myself. Some of the retronyms I thought of are: mobile phone, snail mail, free-range chicken, organic food, desk top computer, tap water, digital watch, etc. It is all very interesting and keeps us thinking. Perhaps if you read this you would like to add to the list.