al-in-chgo's definitions
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Altering or adding to a prior word or term term that must be further defined in the light of later developments or technical innovation.
Example: No one called "World War One" that until there was a "World War Two" with which to contrast it. The going term during the 1914-1918 war and up to 1939 was "The Great War."
Altering or adding to a prior word or term term that must be further defined in the light of later developments or technical innovation.
Example: No one called "World War One" that until there was a "World War Two" with which to contrast it. The going term during the 1914-1918 war and up to 1939 was "The Great War."
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Other employment of term retronym:
Telephone becomes "rotary-dial phone" to distinguish it from the push-button phones that became widespread in the 1970s and early 1980s (although rotary-dial phones still work if all you want to do is place a call and don't need to access features like querying a bank account balance).
Similarly, telephone also becomes "corded phone" to distinguish the traditional hard-wired telephone from those that are wireless in some way, such as cordless phones.
"Regular" coffee to distinguish it from decaffeinated coffee; some people say "caffeinated" coffee but strictly speaking this is a grammatical back-formation, not a retronym, because "to caffeinate" would mean to ADD caffeine to traditional coffee.
Note, though, that Coca-Cola is a "caffeinated" or "caffeine-containing" soft drink in its usual red-can form. Now that there is a Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola "caffeinated" could find use as a retronym for "the real thing."
"Manual" or "standard" or "stick" transmission on a car, none of which terms was necessary before automatic transmissions on cars became widespread and assumed to be the norm.
And, of course, "acoustic" guitar.
Other employment of term retronym:
Telephone becomes "rotary-dial phone" to distinguish it from the push-button phones that became widespread in the 1970s and early 1980s (although rotary-dial phones still work if all you want to do is place a call and don't need to access features like querying a bank account balance).
Similarly, telephone also becomes "corded phone" to distinguish the traditional hard-wired telephone from those that are wireless in some way, such as cordless phones.
"Regular" coffee to distinguish it from decaffeinated coffee; some people say "caffeinated" coffee but strictly speaking this is a grammatical back-formation, not a retronym, because "to caffeinate" would mean to ADD caffeine to traditional coffee.
Note, though, that Coca-Cola is a "caffeinated" or "caffeine-containing" soft drink in its usual red-can form. Now that there is a Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola "caffeinated" could find use as a retronym for "the real thing."
"Manual" or "standard" or "stick" transmission on a car, none of which terms was necessary before automatic transmissions on cars became widespread and assumed to be the norm.
And, of course, "acoustic" guitar.
by al-in-chgo March 6, 2010
Get the retronym mug.1. Southernism. Adds a certain repugnance to describe an idea, remark or occurrence that fell flat, killed conversation, was socially unacceptable, or went over like the proverbial lead balloon.
2. Similarly, a gauche, socially inept or unwelcome person who has a stultifying effect on social gatherings, or, by extension, was involved in some futile or hugely unpopular effort.
2. Similarly, a gauche, socially inept or unwelcome person who has a stultifying effect on social gatherings, or, by extension, was involved in some futile or hugely unpopular effort.
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1. -- "All I did was tell one harmless little dirty joke and the whole room went silent. Apparently I had crossed some kind of taboo. No one even chuckled at the joke; it was a veritable turd in the punchbowl. I felt like one too, since the whole party immediately seized up and everyone stared at me."
2.(a) -- "There we were discussing local politics, and who shows up uninvited and parks himself right in the middle of our group? Little Georgie, the mayor's brat, who has an unerring sense of inappropriateness. I'd rather see a turd in the punch bowl than have to deal with that nuisance."
(b) "Practically everyone in town was in favor of a weeknight youth curfew, but as usual our "freethinking" pastor went contrary and opposed it. He didn't change anyone's mind. I think he's a jinx! A turd in the punch bowl of civic affairs."
1. -- "All I did was tell one harmless little dirty joke and the whole room went silent. Apparently I had crossed some kind of taboo. No one even chuckled at the joke; it was a veritable turd in the punchbowl. I felt like one too, since the whole party immediately seized up and everyone stared at me."
2.(a) -- "There we were discussing local politics, and who shows up uninvited and parks himself right in the middle of our group? Little Georgie, the mayor's brat, who has an unerring sense of inappropriateness. I'd rather see a turd in the punch bowl than have to deal with that nuisance."
(b) "Practically everyone in town was in favor of a weeknight youth curfew, but as usual our "freethinking" pastor went contrary and opposed it. He didn't change anyone's mind. I think he's a jinx! A turd in the punch bowl of civic affairs."
by al-in-chgo February 28, 2010
Get the turd in the punch bowl mug.Piss Hard-On (or Hardon):
A graphic way to describe the male condition of waking up with a very stiff erection coupled with a need to urinate.
The leading causes of this syndrome are thought to be:
1) a full bladder rubs against the prostate gland which then arouses the rest of a man's sexual machinery as though getting ready for intercourse; or the more recent theory, that
2) during a routine night's sleep, a man will have four or five erections but usually they don't awaken him. This is probably the body's way of running "routine diagnostic checks" on his various systems, including sexual readiness. The one that wakes you up either because it's time to wake up or because you're dying to go to the bathroom is the P.H-O.
A graphic way to describe the male condition of waking up with a very stiff erection coupled with a need to urinate.
The leading causes of this syndrome are thought to be:
1) a full bladder rubs against the prostate gland which then arouses the rest of a man's sexual machinery as though getting ready for intercourse; or the more recent theory, that
2) during a routine night's sleep, a man will have four or five erections but usually they don't awaken him. This is probably the body's way of running "routine diagnostic checks" on his various systems, including sexual readiness. The one that wakes you up either because it's time to wake up or because you're dying to go to the bathroom is the P.H-O.
I hate the term "Piss Hard-On". It's ugly. Much better to me are "morning wood" or the evocative "morning glory," which is the term we used in the (USA) South.
For a funny look at how difficult it is to pee with an erection, look at the DVD outtakes of Steve Carrel's movie THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN.
For a funny look at how difficult it is to pee with an erection, look at the DVD outtakes of Steve Carrel's movie THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN.
by al-in-chgo February 24, 2010
Get the Piss Hard-On mug.Two meanings:
(a) A man who is comfortable with or embraces typical working-class dress, usually work clothes, that have changed very little over the years.
(b) A man, usually a young man, who enjoys dressing up but in the outmoded 'square' fashions of the Fifties and early Sixties.
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(a) A man who is comfortable with or embraces typical working-class dress, usually work clothes, that have changed very little over the years.
(b) A man, usually a young man, who enjoys dressing up but in the outmoded 'square' fashions of the Fifties and early Sixties.
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(a) Tom dresses like a bear but he's not gay. In that flannel shirt, work jeans and lace-up boots, he's classically retrosexual.
(b) Jeff loves to scout out fedoras, slim ties and Ivy-League cut suits. The more he looks like Frank Sinatra in the late Fifties or a character from TV's MAD MEN in the early Sixties, he is really pushing the retrosexual button.
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(b) Jeff loves to scout out fedoras, slim ties and Ivy-League cut suits. The more he looks like Frank Sinatra in the late Fifties or a character from TV's MAD MEN in the early Sixties, he is really pushing the retrosexual button.
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by al-in-chgo August 22, 2010
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A polite and gender-specific way to say fuck buddy (a term which can apply to male and female alike), both meaning a fairly regular sexual partner of whom no particular social commitment or romantic allegiance is expected. Very similar to "friend with benefits" except that if absoutely necessary the guy can be referred to as a "boyfriend" which, strictly speaking, isn't a lie.
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A polite and gender-specific way to say fuck buddy (a term which can apply to male and female alike), both meaning a fairly regular sexual partner of whom no particular social commitment or romantic allegiance is expected. Very similar to "friend with benefits" except that if absoutely necessary the guy can be referred to as a "boyfriend" which, strictly speaking, isn't a lie.
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Abercrombie? Oh, he's an honorary boyfriend at most. He gets nookie but I don't have to take him shopping. So far so good for us both."
"Am I still looking for a "regular" boyfriend? Sure, but for now Dolph keeps me satisfied sexually, so I know horniness is not going to interfere with my judgment choosing a real boyfriend."
Abercrombie? Oh, he's an honorary boyfriend at most. He gets nookie but I don't have to take him shopping. So far so good for us both."
"Am I still looking for a "regular" boyfriend? Sure, but for now Dolph keeps me satisfied sexually, so I know horniness is not going to interfere with my judgment choosing a real boyfriend."
by al-in-chgo March 5, 2010
Get the honorary boyfriend mug.Urban slang for "I SOOO agree with you." Indicates assent, but also can mean its opposite "We both know better," via sarcasm, in the same way that "I could CARE less" can mean "I cannot possibly care less."
"The government says it needs the equivalent of 50 quadrillion printed pages of telephone-record information to keep us safe."
"Sho you right! (chuckles)"
"Sho you right! (chuckles)"
by al-in-chgo June 15, 2013
Get the Sho you right! mug.Three definitions:
1. Mock fighting or wrestling, horseplay, slapping, or grab-assing, usually indulged in by immature boys.
2. Adults who evade work responsibility by indulging in tomfoolery or idle socializing when there is work to be done.
3. Current euphemism for "have sex," having replaced "make love" about 25-30 years ago. "Fooling around" connotes sexual foreplay which may or may not lead to deliberate intercourse depending on the couple's tradition and current opportunity.
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1. Mock fighting or wrestling, horseplay, slapping, or grab-assing, usually indulged in by immature boys.
2. Adults who evade work responsibility by indulging in tomfoolery or idle socializing when there is work to be done.
3. Current euphemism for "have sex," having replaced "make love" about 25-30 years ago. "Fooling around" connotes sexual foreplay which may or may not lead to deliberate intercourse depending on the couple's tradition and current opportunity.
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1-"Boys, if you don't stop that fooling around back there, I'm gonna turn this van around and we'll all go home."
2-"The phone was ringing, and where were the front-office employees? In the break room, fooling around as usual."
3-"There's nothing on TV and the kids are asleep. Feel like fooling around?"
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2-"The phone was ringing, and where were the front-office employees? In the break room, fooling around as usual."
3-"There's nothing on TV and the kids are asleep. Feel like fooling around?"
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by al-in-chgo August 18, 2010
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