Find the Retronyms

inksplotter | 11:34 Tue 16th Oct 2007 | Phrases & Sayings

3 Answers

A Retronym is a noun (e.g. mother) which due to a particular social or technological development (e.g. adoption) must be turned into a phrase noun (e.g. birth mother) to distinguish it from the new version (-adoptive mother). As with this example the development needn't wipe out the former version. Here are three groups of phrase nouns. Find the retronym

Improvised comedy/scripted comedy
Made for film movie/home movie
leaded petrol/unleaded petrol

Proverb/Saying

phrases & saying

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dundurn

The clue is in the question - a retronym is a noun and has to be elaborated on to create some kind of distinction, so you're looking for 1 nouns and 2 words which reappear in each phrase - so - comedy, movie and petrol

inksplotter

Question Author

No, retronyms cannot be one word-if you read the question you have to chose between one or the other so coming up with a word that is in both does not count. Otherwise I wouldn't need to explain what a retronym was, I'd just say 'find the word that was in both'.

dundurn

I was about to flame a response and then I re-read the question! OK I see the point, identify the "original" in each case

scripted comedy
made for film movie
leaded petrol

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