jetto-setto wrote:The incorrect usage of "retro" is a misconception about what the word means. It doesn't have to be an official change in the English language.
Looks like we have an "ironic" situation here. Words have meanings, but sometimes the common vernacular shifts the meaning to mean something else.
By the wikitionary definition, retro can only apply to fashion or music, which is absurd.
jetto-setto wrote:The incorrect usage of "retro" is a misconception about what the word means. It doesn't have to be an official change in the English language.
Looks like we have an "ironic" situation here. Words have meanings, but sometimes the common vernacular shifts the meaning to mean something else.
Well, actually, how common is this usage of retro anyway? It seems mostly confined to the gaming community.
For instance, I've known girls who are into vintage clothes/fashion. They call old clothes "vintage", and new clothes made to imitate a similar style "retro". Correct usage of the two words.
Last edited by jetto-setto on Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:54 pm, edited 3 times in total.
If somebody misuses a word, note it, and move on. Unless you are debating semantics with Dish, which is a lot of fun.
Do what you already did, which is post the definition of the word and move on. People will still say their shoelaces are epic, people will still literally say they literally died today, and people will keep omgin and hahaing. Plus "vintage", ugh.
Nomenclature changes, but I think "retro" fits for the NES. For kids who didn't have one and gre up with a SNES, the NES is a "throw back" if you will, meeting the definition. Kind of.
I don't have any issue with calling things in the future "futuristic" if they incorporate modern tech or designs.
Word meanings change and evolve over time, especially from jargon or slang, but also such things as colloquialisms. Are you ok with calling something "cool," "hot," or "swell"? You might view "retro" as just another slang word, given a specific meaning by a subset of people who play video games. But as that community of people playing video games expands and older games become more available and prevalent, the subset of people who will interact with that slang term will adopt it until it eventually becomes the norm.