And the Word Is...

What is an eight-letter word for acoustic guitar or push lawn mower or golf partner?

Why retronym of course. I swear I hadn’t read Sunday’s New York Times when I did my recent post about the word partner; but, in the Magazine, William Safire did a piece on the addition of an adjective to a noun when the noun became ambiguous or took on another meaning. “’A word or phrase created because an existing term that was once used alone needs to be distinguished from a term referring to a new development….’” Safire quoting the definition from the Fourth American Heritage Dictionary. Though he uses the term business partner as an example he pairs it with life partner and domestic partner which the definition seems to require. He says that the single noun partner is ambiguous. Though it may be, it is increasingly being used to describe one’s significant other, another annoying term. “Tea” might be similar to partner here in the South. Tea is a drink made from tea leaves. In many places in the South if you ask for tea you get sweet tea. So you learn to ask for hot tea or unsweetened tea.

I have to go now, someone’s calling on the landline.