|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
|
OP
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
Would this also apply to some of those "cultural" cliches which we refuse to let go? Specifically; - Dial a phone.
- State that a phone is ringing.
- "Don't touch that dial" (as a matter of fact, the idea of "tuning" a station on the TV or radio)
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
there's a related term for this sort of thing. "analog watch" and "film camera" are retronyms.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
|
|
OP
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
Thanks for the response tsuwm.
That is similar, but not quite what I was talking about.
Whereas a retronym is a phrase to distinquish something that has a change in its construction/operation, I referenced phases or cliches that apply 'retro' attributes to something with no bearing any longer.
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
They are perhaps just anachronisms, though that usually refers to things displaced in the other direction. They are not exactly archaisms, since archaisms are no longer in use. Maybe vestigialisms? The nearest 'official' term I could find is that they are examples of 'semantic shift' or 'semantic extension.'
Other example would include:
Telegraph pole (still used for telephone/power poles in some parts)
Carbon Copy
Blu Tac (which is now every other colour)
'Rewinding' a file on a digital recorder
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
|
|
OP
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
They are perhaps just anachronisms, though that usually refers to things displaced in the other direction. They are not exactly archaisms, since archaisms are no longer in use. Maybe vestigialisms? The nearest 'official' term I could find is that they are examples of 'semantic shift' or 'semantic extension.'
Other example would include:
Telegraph pole (still used for telephone/power poles in some parts)
Carbon Copy
Blu Tac (which is now every other colour)
'Rewinding' a file on a digital recorder I think you have found the closest identification! "TimeStamp" is used in computer operations of all types and that is yet another (at one time an actual stamp with ink was used; as with a timeclock). For some reason I am fascinated by these anamolies in our language.
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
For some reason I am fascinated by these anamolies in our language. ...and I am fascinated by self-referential errors 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2 |
I rather think the whole of 21st century Western society is skeuomorphic
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2
stranger
|
|
stranger
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2 |
And when you mention 'semantic shift" or "semantic change" do you mean etymology or onomasiology, or just plain semantics, The Pook?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293
enthusiast
|
|
OP
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 293 |
For some reason I am fascinated by these anamolies in our language. ...and I am fascinated by self-referential errors Good catch, Pook. That is as much fun as RAS Syndrome.
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
And when you mention 'semantic shift" or "semantic change" do you mean etymology or onomasiology, or just plain semantics, The Pook? Just plain meaning, yes. In Semantic extension (which is a subset of Semantic Change/Shift) a word gets a slightly different referent to that which it began with. So for example the 'enter' button on computer keyboards is sometimes called the 'return' button. The word 'return' in this context is a vestigial reference to the 'carriage return' function of a typewriter. Hitting 'return' on a computer keyboard enters data or inserts a new paragraph marker, etc, it does not make the carriage on the printer return to the left, but we still say 'hit return.' Or think of the original example given in this thread - we talk about a 'ringing' phone. The word 'ringing' when talking about communication devices has been extended from its original meaning of the bell on someone's telephone ringing to mean that the telecommunication device is making any kind of sound to alert us to the presence of an incoming call. It might actually be quacking or croaking or playing Beethoven's fifth, but we still say "your phone's ringing." That is an example of semantic extension. The term has been extended to new technology or a new situation.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,330
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
1,577
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
|
|
