<jargon> A term invented to distinguish a subclass of things
from new members of the superclass, where the distinction was
previously not necessary, since the old subclass had been all
there was of the superclass.
For example, the retronyms "snail mail" and "paper mail"
were coined by those for who "mail" was likely to mean
electronic mail.
While the English language in general has a few retronyms
("whole milk", "snow skiing", "acoustic guitar"), hacker
jargon is necessarily (at points capriciously) rich in
retronyms, e.g. plaintext, natural language, impact
printer, eyeball search, biological virus.
[More examples?]
(2001-02-25)
Nearby terms:
RETI « Retrieve « retrocomputing « retronym » return from interrupt » return from the dead » Return To Zero
