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Retrotalk

Posted by ESC on April 07, 2009 at 21:22

In Reply to: Retrotalk posted by Baceseras on April 07, 2009 at 18:24:

: : : 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.]

Right you are. An ax still has to be sharpened. Phrase Finder got a second mention but I can't remember the phrase. I was a little disappointed in the book once I got through it. The explanations for AWOL and "talk turkey" were off and a lot of the origins were from books that I already have.

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