Retrotalk

Posted by Baceseras on April 07, 2009 at 18:24

In Reply to: Retrotalk posted by ESC on April 06, 2009 at 22:49:

: : Got a new book: "I Love It When You Talk Retro" by Ralph Keyes (St. Martin's Press, New York, 2009). Interesting terms on Page 3:

: : Retrotalk -- allusions to past phenomena. Retroterms - verbal artifacts/verbal fossils that "hang around in our national conversation long after the topic they refer to has galloped into the sunset." (In the groove, flip-side, like a broken record: referring to vinyl records.) Retronyms -- terms needing a modifier to distinguish them from new versions (snail mail/e-mail, acoustic guitar/electric).

: PS -- Phrase Finder got a footnote regards "ax to grind."

[And yet axes and other edge tools still need grinding from time to time. Nor does an ax require a modifier to distinguish it from a musician's "ax" - it's the musician's ax that gets the modifier. - Bac.]

• Retrotalk ESC 07/April/09