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Retronym: A new word or phrase coined for an old object or concept whose original name has come to be used for something else, is no longer unique, or is otherwise inappropriate or misleading.

This is a list of retronyms, which are terms renamed after something similar but newer has come into being.

Nouns

A-B

Acoustic guitar : Before the invention of the solid-body electric guitar, all guitars amplified the sound of a plucked string with a resonating hollow body. Similarly: acoustic piano.
AM radio: Before the introduction of broadcast FM radio, the AM broadcast band radio was simply as radio, wireless (in the UK) or as medium-wave radio (still the preferred term among radio enthusiasts) to distinguish it from the (also amplitude-modulated) shortwave radio bands.
Analog synthesizer: Before synthesizers contained microchips, every stage of the internal electronic signal flow was analogous to a sound that would eventually be produced at the output stage, and this sound was shaped and altered as it passed through each filter and envelope.
Analog (or analogue) watch: Before the advent of the digital watch, all watches had faces and hands. After the advent of the digital watch, watches with faces and hands became known as analog watches.
Ancient Greek language: When it was a living language it was called simply Greek (Ἑλληνική).
Artistic gymnastics: Generally known simply as gymnastics before Rhythmic gymnastics was added to the Olympic program in 1984.
Bar soap : The common cake of soap used in the tub or shower was familiarly called “soap” or “bath soap”; the term “bar soap” arose with the advent of soaps in liquid and gel form.
Before Christ: References to dates BC are retronyms. (See also proleptic Julian calendar.)
Biological parent or Birth parent: Before the mid-to-late 20th century, the distinction between natural and adoptive parents was rarely drawn; one simply had parents. The advent of adoptive rights organizations, and the general loosening of strictures by adoption agencies against revealing the identity of one’s birth parents, gave rise to the term “biological parent”. The development of in vitro fertilisation and sperm banks further increased the need to differentiate the biological father from the father who raises the child.
Black powder: Called “gunpowder” for centuries while it was in common use. The retronym “black powder” was coined in the late 19th century to differentiate it from the newly developed smokeless powder which superseded it.
Black-and-white television: Once called simply television, now the retronym is used to distinguish it from color television, which is now more commonly referred to by the unadorned term. Along the same lines: broadcast television, free-to-air television, over-the-air television, silent movie. Furthermore, in the not too distant future, the term “Standard Definition Television” (or possibly “Low Definition Television”) may become necessary when HDTV becomes the “normal” kind of TV.
Brick-and-mortar store, high street shop: As increasing use of the Internet allowed online stores, accessible only through computers, to compete with established retail shops, the latter began to be called “brick-and-mortar stores” or “high street shops” to indicate that customers could (or had to) visit them to examine and purchase their goods. These two terms are also often used to describe the physical storefronts of a retail business that also sells products online. In the U.S., “brick-and-mortar” emphasizes the physical construction of these stores, as opposed to the largely electronic nature of online stores. The terms “high street shop” (UK) or “main street store” or “downtown store” (U.S.) also serve to differentiate the more traditional retail venue from big-chain “box stores” such as K-mart or Wal-Mart, which did not exist prior to the 1960s. (The name “High Street” is commonly used in the UK for a town’s primary thoroughfare. In the U.S., it is more likely to be called “Main Street”.)
Broadcast television:Television programming not generated by cable providers and/or available via cable or satellite television technology. Broadcast television refers to that programming which is available without cable or satellite subscription, since it is “broadcast” over the airwaves, as all television once was. The major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX) are broadcast television concerns.
Brown Bess : The standard British infantry arm of the 18th through early 19th century is referred to as “Brown Bess” today but during its period of use was known as “the King’s Arm”, “the King’s Musket”, or by its specific variation, such as “Land Pattern musket” (”Long Land Pattern” is a retronym for the oldest models applied when the later “Short Land Pattern” variety was developed). Although the term “Brown Bess” existed in the 18th century(for example “married to Brown Bess” to mean “in the army”) the usage as a name for the firearm itself was only developed late in the era of its usage by the British Army.
George H.W. Bush: A rare example of a living person with a retronym. Until his son, George W. Bush, also became President, George (H.W.) Bush rarely, if ever, used his middle initials.

C-G

Roman Catholicism: Before multiple schisms, all Christianity was broadly the same.
Classical music: Refers to Western music over a very wide timespan; term not used until 1834.
Cloth diaper: Before the second half of the 20th century, all diapers (nappies, in the UK) were made from cloth and simply called diapers. The advent of the disposable diaper gave rise to this term.
Clerks: The Animated Series: Spinoff from the film Clerks and originally had the same title. Fans used the name “The Animated Series” to distinguish it from the film.
Coca-Cola Classic: Originally caled Coca-Cola, the name was changed when the original recipe was reintroduced after New Coke failed to catch on. This is an example of a retronym officially coined by a product’s manufacturer.
Cold water faucet/tap: Before the invention of the water heater, there was only the single faucet/tap at each sink.
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn: This name is sometimes used by fans of the Command & Conquer series to refer to the original game of the series, officially known simply as Command & Conquer.
Conventional oven : Before the development of the microwave oven, this term was not used. Now it is commonly found in cooking instructions for prepared foods.
Conventional war: Before the development of nuclear weapons, this term was not used. (War, Gwynne Dyer)
CSI: Las Vegas: Not used before the debut of the spinoff series CSI: Miami in 2002, and CSI: NY in 2004.
Curved or curly quotes:
Straight quotes were made widespread by typewriters.
Day baseball: Baseball played during the day, as all games were played before electric lighting in stadiums became common.
Dial-up internet (or just dial-up) : Before broadband became widespread, it was the norm to connect to the internet via a modem over standard phone line, which meant the phone line could not be used to make calls until one logged off.
Dino oil : Motor oil derived from crude oil, from the geological age of the dinosaurs. Known as just “motor oil” before the synthetic oils became popular.
Dirt road : Before road paving whether by stone, brick or modern paving methods, all roads were nothing more than Dirt Paths commonly used by pedestrians, horse and by buggy.
Face-to-face conference : A conference, not involving telephones or video cameras (similarly:IRL-meeting = in-real-life meeting).
Farmall Regular : As explained at Farmall tractor, the name Farmall began as a model name but became a sub-brand name as additional models were developed.
Field hockey: Known simply as “hockey” until ice hockey and roller hockey became popular. (In addition, there is a game called street hockey which evolved from roller hockey: this is hockey without skates, which is the same basic concept as the original game from which ice hockey and roller hockey evolved.). Similarly, Field soccer (Football (soccer)).
Film camera: As opposed to digital camera.
First Gundam: A nickname, commonly used by Japanese fans of the franchise and coined shortly after the release of Zeta Gundam. Gundam 0079 is also used in the same fashion.
Forward slash : Before the introduction of ASCII and electronic keyboards for computers, typewriters had only one type of slash (”/”), normally the un-shifted key shared with the question mark. The rise of MS-DOS brought regular use of the backslash (”\”) character found on computer keyboards (for specifying directory paths). Before that time the symbol “/” was known simply as a “slash”. (Other typographical names for this character are virgule and solidus. In the UK, the character was traditionally known as an oblique stroke or, more simply, an oblique. To slash means to cut with a scything motion, which is analogous to the motion of the pen as the character is handwritten.)
French franc: The currency unit of France before the euro, which was originally the only franc, but had to be distinguished from the Belgian franc, Communauté Financière Africaine franc, and Swiss franc after those countries adopted the term.
Frizzen : This component was called the “hammer” while flintlock] firearms were in use. On percussion cap firearms which replaced flintlock the striking component was called the hammer and the term frizzen was applied to the hammer of flintlocks.
GM “old-look” transit bus: The GM old look did not originally have a name, but in 1959, a new design was released and was called the new look. After this many people started calling the older design the Old Look.
Epic of Gilgamesh:originally titled He Who Saw The Deep or Surpassing All Other Kings. Modern scholars named the story after its hero.

H-L

Hand-barrow: Originally, “barrows” suspended the load on poles carried by two people, one in front and one behind. “Wheelbarrows” are first cited by the Oxford English Dictionary to the fourteenth century, and in the fifteenth century, the term “hand-barrow” arose to refer to the older sort of barrow, but in the British Isles the more common version was Sedan chair.
Hard cider: In Europe and Asia, “cider” refers to fermented (alcoholic) apple juice. In the U.S., “cider” often refers to non-alcoholic spiced or carbonated apple juice. “Hard cider” specifies the alcoholic version.
Hard disk: All disks were hard (i.e., constructed of rigid instead of flexible magnetic material) until the advent of the floppy disk.
Hard phone: With the advent of the soft phone, physical telephones became known as hard phones.
Home movie: To distinguish it from a cinema movie-the invention of film predates the invention of the cinema.
Horse cavalry:
Used to distinguish the now mostly obsolete original use of horses in a military mounted combat role, with the advent of tanks and other motorized vehicles (mechanized cavalry or armored cavalry) following World War I, and the use of helicopters (air cavalry) during the Vietnam War era.
Hot chocolate
In the days before the invention of sweet solid chocolate for eating, the word “chocolate” was usually used to refer to the drink; references to it in, say, Jane Austen’s novels are confusing to the 21st century eye. For a while after the chocolate bar was invented it was referred to as “bar chocolate”, but due to its stunning rise in popularity in the latter half of the 19th century it eventually laid claim to the basic word.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Used on some promotional materials accompanying 1999 and 2003 reissues of Raiders of the Lost Ark
Inground pool
A swimming pool where the filled high water level is flush with the ground; compared to above an “above ground pool” where the entire pool is above ground level
iPod classic
The original iPod in its latest generation has now been officially called the iPod classic, as every other iPod model currently uses a suffix to define itself.
Landline phone service
With the advent of cellular or mobile phone services, traditional hard-wired phone service became popularly known as landline phones. Previously, this term was generally only used by military personnel and amateur radio operators. (In the movie The Matrix a landline phone was also referred to as a “hardline”.) Even though a considerable amount of landline phone traffic is transmitted via airwaves, this term comes from the physical cabling that provides the “last mile” connection between the customer premises and local phone distribution centers. Because of the communications industry’s love for acronyms, landline phone service has also been called POTS–Plain Old Telephone Service. The logical complement of this acronym, “PANS” became a backronym for “Pretty Amazing New Services”. In the telecommunications industry the term wireline is used for landline phone services, to distinguish them from wireless or mobile phone services. Wireline is clearly another retronym.
Latin America, Anglo-America
Since the term America is frequently associated (however controversially) with the United States of America, Latin America provides more precise identification of the largely Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the Americas. Likewise, the remaining, primarily English-speaking countries of the U.S.A. and Canada are sometimes referred to as Anglo-America, distinguishing them both from “America” and from North America, which includes Spanish-speaking Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and also Belize, which is English- and Spanish-speaking.
Live action
A form of a film that consists of images consisting of predominantly actual actors and objects that exist in the actual world, as opposed to an animated film, which predominantly consists of artificial static images or objects that take advantage of the persistence of vision principle of film to give an illusion of life.
Live poker
What casinos call the kind of poker played with cards by people sitting at a table; what many others still just call “poker”; also called a “ring game”. The term became necessary to distinguish it from video poker, which is far more common in casinos today.
Luggable computer
The first generation of computers marketed as “portable”, such as the Kaypro or the Osborne series, were quite bulky and were heavier than a bowling ball. The weight was mostly due the fact they had a conventional CRT-type monitor built right in. When the first laptop computers came out, the earlier, heavier portable machines were suddenly referred to as “luggables”.

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