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This is a list of retronyms, which are terms renamed after something similar but newer has come into being.

Contents 1 Nouns 1.1 A-B 1.2 C-F 1.3 H-L 1.4 M-P 1.5 R-W 2 Geographic retronyms 3 Retronymic adjectives

[edit] Nouns

[edit] A-B

Acoustic guitar 

Before the invention of the solid-body electric guitar, all guitars amplified the sound of a plucked string with a resonating hollow body. Similarly: acoustic piano.

AM radio

Before the introduction of broadcast FM radio, the AM broadcast band radio would have been known simply as radio, wireless (in the UK) or as medium-wave radio (still the preferred term among radio enthusiasts) to distinguish it from the (also amplitude-modulated) shortwave radio bands.

Analog (or analogue) watch

Before the advent of the digital watch, all watches had faces and hands. After the advent of the digital watch, watches with faces and hands became known as analog watches.

Artistic gymnastics 

Generally known simply as gymnastics before Rhythmic gymnastics was added to the Olympic program in 1984.

Bar soap 

The common cake of soap used in the tub or shower was familiarly called "soap" or "bath soap"; the term "bar soap" arose with the advent of soaps in liquid and gel form.

Barnacle goose

Originally, the goose was simply referred to as a barnacle. Thought to spontaneously generate from wood left in water, both the goose and the crustacean were believed to be closely linked, with the former being thought of as a further developed form of the latter.

Before Christ

References to dates BC are retronyms.

Biological parent 

Before the mid-to-late 20th century, the distinction between natural and adoptive parents was rarely drawn; one simply had parents. The advent of adoptive rights organizations, and the general loosening of strictures by adoption agencies against revealing the identity of one's birth parents, gave rise to the term "biological parent".

Black-and-white television 

Once called simply television, now the retronym is used to distinguish it from color television, which is now more commonly referred to by the unadorned term. Along the same lines: broadcast television, free-to-air television, over-the-air television, silent movie. Furthermore, in the not too distant future, the term "Standard Definition Television" (or possibly "Low Definition Television") may become necessary if HDTV becomes the "normal" kind of TV.

Brick-and-mortar store, high street shop 

As increasing use of the Internet allowed online stores, accessible only through computers, to compete with established retail shops, the latter began to be called "brick-and-mortar stores" or "high street shops" to indicate that customers could (in fact, had to) visit them to examine and purchase their goods. In the U.S., "brick-and-mortar" emphasizes the physical construction of these stores, as opposed to the largely electronic nature of online stores. In the UK, "high street" emphasizes the more traditional shopping venue, since the name "High Street" is commonly used in the UK for a town's primary retail thoroughfare. These two terms are also often used to describe the physical storefronts of a retail business that also sells products online.

Broadcast television 

Television programming not generated by cable providers and/or available via cable or satellite television technology. Broadcast television refers to that programming which is available without cable or satellite subscription, since it is "broadcast" over the airwaves, as all television once was. The major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX) are broadcast television concerns.

George H.W. Bush

A rare example of a living person with a retronym. Until his son, George W. Bush, also became President, George Bush rarely, if ever, used his middle initials.

Byzantine Empire 

The Byzantines considered themselves just the Roman Empire. Montesquieu considered that the Christianized Eastern Roman Empire was corrupt and not worthy of the prestigious "Roman" name.

[edit] C-F

Cloth diaper 

Before the second half of the 20th century, all diapers were made from cloth and simply called diapers. The advent of the disposable diaper gave rise to this term.

Coca-Cola Classic 

Originally called Coca-Cola, the name was changed when the original recipe was reintroduced after New Coke failed to catch on. An example of a retronym officially coined by a product's manufacturer

Cold water faucet/tap 

Before the invention of the water heater, there was only the single faucet/tap at each sink.

Conventional War 

Before the development of nuclear weapons, this term was not used. (War, Gwynne Dyer)

Day baseball 

Baseball played during the day, as all games were played before electric lighting in stadiums became common.

Desktop computer 

Until portable, laptop, and notebook computers became popular, computers that fit on or below a desktop were often referred to as home computers or personal computers.

Dinozords 

The original robots used by the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Before the Thunderzords were introduced, the Dinozords were simply known as "the Zords". Similarly, their formation was just "the Megazord", until the Thunder Megazord was introduced.

Face-to-face conference 

A conference, not involving telephones or video cameras (similarly:IRL-meeting = in-real-life meeting).

Field hockey 

Known simply as "hockey" until ice hockey and roller hockey became popular. (In addition, there is a game called street hockey which evolved from roller hockey: this is hockey without skates, which is the same basic concept as the original game from which ice hockey and roller hockey evolved.)

Finfish 

A term used in the fishing industry to distinguish true fish from shellfish.

First Gundam

A nickname, commonly used by Japanese fans of the franchise and coined shortly after the release of Zeta Gundam. Gundam 0079 is also used in the same fashion.

Forward slash 

Before the rise of MS-DOS with its use of the backslash ("\") character in directory paths, the symbol "/" was known simply as a "slash". In the UK, the character was traditionally known as an oblique stroke or, more simply, an oblique. Slash meant to cut with scything motion or (more colloquially) to urinate.

French franc 

The currency unit of France before the euro, which was originally the only franc, but had to be distinguished from the Belgian franc, Communauté Financière Africaine franc, and Swiss franc after those countries adopted the term.

[edit] H-L

Hard cider 

In Europe and Asia, "cider" refers to fermented (alcoholic) apple juice. In the U.S., "cider" often refers to non-alcoholic spiced or carbonated apple juice. "Hard cider" specifies the alcoholic version.

Hard disk 

All disks were hard (i.e., constructed of rigid instead of flexible magnetic material) until the advent of the floppy disk.

Heterosexual 

The term heterosexual was coined shortly after and opposite to the word "homosexual" by Karl Maria Kertbeny in 1868 and was first published in 1869.

Hot chocolate 

In the days before the invention of sweet solid chocolate for eating, the word "chocolate" was usually used to refer to the drink; references to it in, say, Jane Austen's novels are confusing to the 21st century eye. For a while after the chocolate bar was invented it was referred to as "bar chocolate", but due to its stunning rise in popularity in the latter half of the 19th century it eventually laid claim to the basic word.

Landline phone service 

With the advent of cellular or mobile phone services, traditional hard-wired phone service became popularly known as landline phones. Previously, this term was generally only used by military personnel and amateur radio operators. (In the movie The Matrix a landline phone was also referred to as a "hardline".) Even though a considerable amount of landline phone traffic is transmitted via airwaves, this term comes from the physical cabling that provides the "last mile" connection between the customer premises and local phone distribution centers. Because of the communications industry's love for acronyms, landline phone service has also been called POTS--Plain Old Telephone Service. The logical complement of this acronym, "PANS" became a backronym for "Pretty Amazing New Services". In the telecommunications industry the term wireline is used for landline phone services, to distinguish them from wireless or mobile phone services. Wireline is clearly another retronym.

Latin America, Anglo-America 

Since the term America is frequently associated (however controversially) with the United States of America, Latin America provides more precise identification of the largely Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the Americas. Likewise, the remaining, primarily English-speaking countries of the U.S.A. and Canada are sometimes referred to as Anglo-America, distinguishing them both from "America" and from North America, which includes Spanish-speaking Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and also Belize, which is English and Spanish-speaking.

Live action 

A form of a film that consists of images consisting of predominantly actual actors and objects that exist in the actual world, as opposed to an animated film, which predominantly consists of artificial static images or objects that take advantage of the persistence of vision principle of film to give an illusion of life.

Live poker 

What casinos call the kind of poker played with cards by people sitting at a table; what many others still just call "poker"; also called a "ring game". The term became necessary to distinguish it from video poker, which is far more common in casinos today.

Luggable computer 

The first generation of computers marketed as "portable", such as the Kaypro or the Osborne series, were quite bulky and weighed about the same as a bowling ball. The weight was mostly due the fact they had a conventional CRT-type monitor built right in. When the first laptop computers came out, the earlier, heavier portable machines were suddenly referred to as "luggables".

[edit] M-P

Magic Kingdom 

The original, and signature part of the Walt Disney World Resort; the one with the castle. Originally, if a person said he was going to "Disney World" they meant the Magic Kingdom. (Although Disney referred to that park as the Magic Kingdom right from the start, few people outside official channels used that term.) Even when EPCOT Center opened, most guests and travel agents referred to the two parks as "Disney World" and "EPCOT", and were even depicted as such on some maps, even though both parks are collectively part of Walt Disney World. However, as more theme parks such as the Disney-MGM Studios opened, the term Magic Kingdom would become used by the casual visitor more and more.

Mainframe computer 

When minicomputers (which were the size and shape of a desk or credenza) were introduced in the early 1970s, existing systems that often consisted of multiple large racks of equipment received the name "mainframe", alluding to the vertical cabinets or "frames" in which they were installed.

Manual transmission (Also standard transmission) 

Automotive transmissions were all manual, of course, before the invention of the automatic transmission.

Meatspace 

All of physical reality, as distinguished from cyberspace.

Mechanical Fuel Injection 

The amount of fuel squirted into an Internal Combustion Engine by a fuel injection system was, before integrated circuitry became applied to motor vehicle engines, originally regulated by a calibrated mechanical linkage. What made for the retronym was the more precise Electronic Fuel Injection, which employed more sensors.

Natural language 

A language, used by humans, that evolved naturally in its society. Contrast with computer programming languages or constructed languages. Often referred to as human language.

Over-the-board chess (also OTB chess) 

Chess played in real time using a physical chessboard, as opposed to computer chess or correspondence chess.

Orthodox Judaism 

Before the advent of the Reform and Conservative movements, all Judaism was orthodox.

Paper copy, hard copy 

With the proliferation of insubstantial and indistinguishable digital document copies, physical document copies acquired this retronym. Occasionally extended to the copying devices; i.e., paper copiers. The jocular substitute dead-tree copy is sometimes used. (The synonym hardcopy predates the digital age, apparently differentiating paper copies from microfilm and other human-unreadable forms.)

Parallel ATA (PATA) 

The original ATA interface was parallel; the qualification became necessary when Serial ATA was introduced.

Pedestrians 

Known simply as "people" before transport was invented.

Post sedan or Post coupe 

A car with a full-height B-pillar, as opposed to a pillarless (half-height B-pillar) hardtop. Genearlly used only in referring to classic cars because fashion and safety regulations dictate nearly all modern cars are post models.

Pre-Dreadnought battleship 

The quantum leap in battleship design brought about by the construction of HMS Dreadnought resulted in almost all the battleships built before her completion becoming known as "pre-Dreadnought battleships", whereas before they had simply been "battleships".

Prop plane 

As jet aircraft became the primary people movers of the airways, the older propeller-based technology received this occasional shorthand nickname to distinguish it.

Pulse dialling 

After touch tone dialling on telephones became common, the older dialling standard became known as pulse dialling.

Push lawnmower 

With the invention of the gasoline- and electric-powered lawnmower, the lowly manually propelled lawnmower became known as the push mower.

[edit] R-W

Real numbers

coined after the development of the imaginary numbers.

Real tennis 

was once known simply as tennis, but came into use at the end of the 19th century to distinguish it from the game of lawn tennis patented in 1874.

Reel-to-reel or open reel 

Tape recorders were originally simply tape recorders, as they all used a pair of open reels to hold the magnetic recording medium. The term reel-to-reel was introduced when various forms of cassette tape formats became popular.

Regular coffee 

Once, coffee was just coffee, caffeine and all. The development of decaffeinated coffee caused this coinage.

Rotary telephone or dial telephone 

The kind of telephone in common use before touch-tone telephones.

Scalar processors 

As opposed to Vector processors.

Seventy-eight (78) rpm records 

Before the advent of 33⅓ rpm and 45 rpm vinyl records, these were known simply as records, phonograph records or gramophone records.

Sit-down restaurant 

With the rise of fast-food and take-out restaurants, the "standard" restaurant received a new name in the United States. (In the United Kingdom, fast food and takeaway (takeout) outlets are not normally referred to as "restaurants", so the "sit-down" qualifier is not necessary.)

Snail mail (AKA land mail, paper mail, p-mail) 

Non-electronic mail delivered to physical locations, like one's home or business. Before email and voice mail, all mail was physical, and much slower by comparison — thus, the "Snail" appellation.

Solo motorcycle 

So called instead of motorcycle when some were being built with a sidecar.

Star Trek: The Original Series

The series' actual title Star Trek is now often used to refer collectively to the original series and its multitude of spin-offs.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 

Originally released in 1977 under the title Star Wars. The new title was applied in a 1981 re-release after the decision to make additional films, allowing Star Wars to refer to the entire series.

Static electricity 

see triboelectricity, below.

Survivor: Pulau Tiga 

Broadcast as just Survivor. When the show subsequently used other locales, the location of the first season was added to the title to distinguish it.

Terrestrial Radio

As opposed to satellite radio.

Transformers: Generation 1 

referring to the original Transformers toyline which ran from 1984 to 1992, and the assorted tie-in media. Then known only as "The Transformers," when the sequel series, Transformers: Generation 2 launched by Hasbro in 1993, all previous subject matter was dubbed "Generation 1" - many individuals did this independently, as it is a logical progression, and when the online fandom began growing in the 90s, the term became the definitive one for that era. The term subsequently made it into official use through toy reissues from and comic books, most notably on Japanese toy packaging.

Triboelectricity 

Electricity was so named from the Greek word for amber, because of the discovery that if it was rubbed (generating what is now called triboelectricity) it would attract objects (due to a charge of static electricity). Electric currents and other forms of generation were discovered later.

Tube TV 

Originally, all televisions used a cathode-ray tube to produce a TV image. But with the recent popularity of newer television technologies such as LCD, plasma, or DLP, some stores now describe the sets that still use a picture tube as tube TVs.

Vinyl record 

A term that arose to distinguish 33⅓- and 45-rpm phonograph records (LPs and 45s) from the compact discs (CDs) that have since replaced them for nearly all physical records and record albums.

Water-activated stamps 

The predominant kind of postage stamp before self-adhesive stamps became popular.

Whole milk 

Milk was formerly available in just one version, with the cream included, and benefitted gradually by pasteurization and homogenization. But it was still called simply milk. This variety of milk is now referred to as whole milk (3.25% milkfat) to distinguish it from 2% (reduced fat) milk, 1% (low fat) milk, and skim milk (nearly no fat).

World War I 

Originally this was called "The Great War" and commonly believed to be "the war to end all wars". However, when a second war enveloped Europe, Asia, and much of the Pacific, it became necessary to distinguish them. Similarly, the 1991 war in the Persian Gulf, formerly called "Desert Storm" or just the "Gulf War", is now (since the 2003 invasion of Iraq) often referred to as "The First Gulf War".

[edit] Geographic retronyms

Asia Minor 

The name Asia was first applied to the mainland east of the Aegean islands, and later extended to the greater landmass of which that is a peninsula.

Baja California 

The name California was first applied to the peninsula (thought to be an island), and later extended – and then restricted – to Alta California.

East Indies 

After Columbus landed in the West Indies.

East Prussia 

Prussia began as a duchy in Poland. As the highest-ranking dignity of the Hohenzollern dynasty, the name came to be applied to their territories stretching across Germany.

Great Britain 

Britons fleeing the Germanic invasions settled in Armorica which became Brittany or Little Britannia.

Lower Saxony 

The kingdom and duchies of Saxony are outside the original lowland territory of the Saxon people.

Washington, D.C. 

was simply Washington or Washington City until the northern part of the Oregon Territory became Washington (state).

[edit] Retronymic adjectives

Analog/analogue 

Describes non-digital devices: analog clock, analog recording.

Conventional, classic, or traditional 

Describes devices or methods that have been largely replaced or significantly supplemented by new ones. For example, conventional (non-microwave) oven, or conventional weapon (one which does not incorporate chemical, biological or nuclear payloads).

I, Senior, the Elder 

When a dynastic ruler has or adopts a name identical to that of a predecessor, the original is often retroactively given the Roman numeral I. For example, William I of Orange was called William during his lifetime. Names (typically of males) may also follow this convention, or the father may be given the suffix Senior (Sr.), with Junior (Jr.) for the son; Roman numerals would be used if the name is repeated again.

I or 1, also part 1, version 1, etc. 

Also sometimes used to refer to the first incarnation of a movie, video game, etc. after sequels have been created, although such works are seldom renamed in this way officially. When Sony released the PlayStation 2, a redesigned version of the original PlayStation was also released under the name PSOne.

Old 

Naturally used when there is officially a "new" version of anything, to refer to the previous version. For example, when British money was decimalised and the new penny of 1/100 pound was adopted, the previous penny of 1/240 pound became known as the old penny.

offline 

Computer users will sometimes agree to meet offline, i.e. in person as opposed to online in an internet-based chat room or other such means of electronic communication. Before the internet became widely used, this was of course the only way to "meet" someone and the term to meet offline was unheard of.

Regular (or plain) 

Used to refer to an original product after line-extensions are released. For example, one could formerly just ask for a Pepsi. But now that multiple line-extensions are available like Diet Pepsi or Pepsi Twist, one might ask for a regular Pepsi when after the original drink. Similarly, regular Oreo cookies were called that after Double Stuf Oreos and other varieties came out.

Roman Catholic 

The qualification Roman is vaguely self-contradictory, the essential meaning of the word catholic being universal.

Video 

Not itself a retronym, but in need of some. In the UK a "video" is a VCR or a VHS tape and "to video" is to record a television programme. Nowadays, video (ie audio-visual) recordings are commonly/increasingly made on hard disks or DVDs, rather than tapes.

Wired 

Refers to products such as telephones, headphones, speakers, computer accessories, etc, which are now available in wireless versions.bg:Списък с ретроними