A retronym is a word coined to distinguish something new from an older, more generic version, such as electric guitar or clock radio. A couple of new retronyms are fine water, or “unprocessed water that reflects a region’s terroir” and water...
Put on your shoes and socks. Born and bred. Lock and load. The reason these phrases are illogically ordered probably stems from the way one forms vowels in the mouth. If you think too hard about these terms, they start to look preposterous, the...
Our Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a new word game titled “The Secrets of Nym.” In Alcoholics Anonymous, denial is said to stand for “Don’t Even Notice I Am Lying,” which is a backronym. An acoustic guitar could be considered a retronym. And an editor...
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s witches’ knickers! What do you call stray plastic bags that litter the landscape? Also, what it means to do something like a boss, how to hyphenate correctly, and why we say we have a crush on someone. Also, similes...
A bi-coastal listener wonders about the terms West Coast and eastern seaboard. Why don’t we say Californians live on the western seaboard? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Coast vs. Seaboard” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi...
ball golf n.—Gloss: A retronym for traditional golf. «Wheeler, who also plays traditional golf or “ball golf” as he calls it, said disc golf is just as challenging as regular golf but takes less time.» —“Romans preparing for state disc golf...