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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
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Carpal Tunnel
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there's a related term for this sort of thing. "analog watch" and "film camera" are retronyms.
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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.
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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
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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.
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For some reason I am fascinated by these anamolies in our language. ...and I am fascinated by self-referential errors 
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I rather think the whole of 21st century Western society is skeuomorphic
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And when you mention 'semantic shift" or "semantic change" do you mean etymology or onomasiology, or just plain semantics, The Pook?
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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.
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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.
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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.' It does make the cursor return to the left side of the screen. The whole bit about ringing reminds me that hanging up a phone would qualify, too. The British "ring off" (do y'all still say that?) is even moreso.
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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.' It does make the cursor return to the left side of the screen. The whole bit about ringing reminds me that hanging up a phone would qualify, too. The British "ring off" (do y'all still say that?) is even moreso. Perhaps Australians and Americans have more hangups than Brits. We say the same as you. It reminds me of the Thunderbirds marionettes - remember when they'd say, "I'll just hang up the phone now" whilst placing this oversized phone attached to fishing line above their heads?
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Rather than a holding on to cultural cliches, I think The Pook's analysis of semantic shift is more to the point. Another example might be the word tap. Originally it meant 'to strike lightly' as in "he tapped on the table with his pencil." It was then used as a verb describing what one did to insert the device one used to draw beer from a barrel and thence to the device itself. This device was still called a tap even when it was screwed into the barrel and tap then became the device used to cut female threads into something.
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I was pleasantly surprised to watch this past Sunday's 60 MINUTES and see that the concept of skeuomorph was brought up by General Motors' Vice Chairman Robert Lutz. He was discussing how the Volt (a new electric car) would be quiet so they would develop audio CDs with the engine sounds of various makes and models for anyone who would miss the sound of engines revving. I love seeing the concept in action for words I've just learned. Thank you!
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Are they going to have it playing outside the vehicles? It might be needed as a safety measure. I can speak to this personally because I was almost hit by an electric car (they are being created and test-driven by GM in my neighborhood) walking out of the grocery store because it had started to move when I was out of sight, but heading towards the crosswalk, and I didn't hear it, so I started to cross. It really startled me, and I hope the driver learned something, too. Anyone buying an electric car should have an inservice about the ramifications of engine silence. Any motorcyclist will tell you that a quiet motorcycle is a deadly one, and they have to be extremely careful. You are safer inside a car, but, I'm sure, still not wanting to be involved in accidents. :0)
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funny things, eyes. they just don't see what you don't look at.
formerly known as etaoin...
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funny things, eyes. they just don't see what you don't look at. Then there are those who cannot look at. The blind have this problem all the time with electric cars.
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Pedestrians have the right-of-way in crosswalks, even if they look to the right first because that's the direction the entering traffic comes from... :0)
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even if they look to the right first because that's the direction the entering traffic comes from... :0) In many countries, but not all.
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I was speaking specifically about my looking to the right in front of that grocery store because the cars enter the parking lot from that direction. It has nothing to do with the country I'm in...
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I've never heard it called a crosswalk. We call it a crossing.
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We having "crossings" too: deer crossings, horse crossings, duck and goose crossings, and I'm sure lots more, like turkey crossings... You need to heed the wild animal ones because they usually mean the likelihood of needing to stop to avoid an accident is good. Don't you have any "koala crossings" or "kangaroo crossings"? Our signs are usually just a picture symbol of the crosser in question... :0)
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I was always taught left-right-left. which I assume would be right-left-right in other places that do things differently.
formerly known as etaoin...
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We having "crossings" too: deer crossings, horse crossings, duck and goose crossings, and I'm sure lots more, like turkey crossings... You need to heed the wild animal ones because they usually mean the likelihood of needing to stop to avoid an accident is good. Don't you have any "koala crossings" or "kangaroo crossings"? Our signs are usually just a picture symbol of the crosser in question... :0) A crosswalk here would probably be an enclosed walkway joining two buildings above the street. We have pedestrian crossings (which last century used to be called zebra crossings. We have signs with kangaroos, wombats, koalas, camels, ducks, and geriatrics. To name a few. We also have animal underpasses in some places where there are colonies of rare animals.
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I don't know what they're called in other places, but in my city the enclosed walkways between buildings are called "skywalks" or "skyways". They are often connected to parking garages.
Camels? Never heard of them there! :0)
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Are there camels in Tasmania??
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Are there camels in Tasmania?? No, but we have them in the Northern Territory. They are feral animals left over from the days when Afghan drivers provided transport for early explorers and traders.
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I don't know what they're called in other places, but in my city the enclosed walkways between buildings are called "skywalks" or "skyways". They are often connected to parking garages. Are they called "skywalks" or "skyways" even if they're on ground level?
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Nope. I was responding to Pook's "above the ground" explanation. I don't know of any ground level, fully enclosed walkways around here. There are some covered passageways, but they are open-air. Our church includes one in renovation plans, but will probably get scrapped first if funds are lacking. It is called a cloister, although that usually is attached to a wall on one side, and this one would be so in one part, but free-standing between the buildings. For the curious: cloister plan It is also slated to be fully enclosed and heated. Then I would know of one on ground level. :0)
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when I was in Middle School we had an (unheated) pass-through from building to building which we lovingly called the "cattle chute"...
formerly known as etaoin...
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A ground-level connector "hallway" between two buildings can also be called a breezeway.
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