Verboticism: Prehistortech

'Wow! Look what my grandpa gave me!'

DEFINITION: n. An old media format that is no longer popular or easily accessible, such as floppy disks, VHS tapes or stone tablets. v. To try to access data stored in an old-fashioned media format, especially it requires the use archaic technology and/or protocols.

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Hyperrelicate

Created by: arrrteest

Pronunciation: hayh-per-rel-i-cayt

Sentence: With blu-ray technology coming on, Devon pondered if he would have to move his massive CD collection to join his boxes of cassettes, LP's and 45's, and 8-track tapes. Feeling a bit nostalgic, he went to go look for the list of titles that he had packed away in the early 90's. To his dismay, he realized he wouldn't be able to find it because it was saved on a hyperrelicate: a floppy disk.

Etymology: hyper- over,beyond + relic- an object of the past + -ate, a Latin suffix occurring in nouns

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COMMENTS:

Like you, I have all those old relics and the devices for playing them them. If I took them out of storage I could fill an entertainment center with the museum pieces and charge the young ones to come play with it! Are we just a bit relicated? Superword! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 18:07:00

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Yesterbrowse

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: YES-ter-browz

Sentence: Having only their father's discarded very ancient computer to rely on Darren and Warren had no choice but to resort to yesterbrowse methods of finding information.

Etymology: Blend of 'yesterday' and 'browse' (do searches on the internet)

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Hitechniques

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: hīteknēks

Sentence: Rotary phones, transistor radios, 8-tracks, cassette players, VCRs, dial-up modems... Once the pinnacle of scientific genius, these marvels are now considered hitechniques, ancient relics of technology that has moved on. Some of them still function with a patchwork of adaptations. Most are only good for cannibalizing to keep others of their kind semi-functional.

Etymology: hitech (employing, requiring, or involved in high technology) + antiques (a collectible object such as a piece of furniture or work of art that has a high value because of its considerable age)

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Betablock

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: bay ta blok

Sentence: When Sammy tried to put his dvd in Grandpa's old video machine, he found it was in betablock mode. No wonder Grandpa had heart trouble. Sammy was confused and felt like someone travelling back in a time machine...Grandpa's videos were on Beta, his music on 8 Track, his movies were on 8 mm, his tv was in black & white and his telephone had a rotary dial. No wonder Grandpa was so old...it took him ages to get in contact with the outside world!

Etymology: Beta (old video format, before VHS) & Beta Blocker (any of various drugs used in treating hypertension or arrhythmia; decreases force and rate of heart contractions by blocking beta-adrenergic receptors of the autonomic nervous system)

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Retirosaur

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: ree ty ro sar

Sentence: When Mary reached 65, she knew it was time to stop working. She had become a retirosaur. She no longer spoke the language of her younger boss and co-workers. She could remember working the teletype, a comptometer and her ancient Underwood typewriter had served her well. She had used a dictionary, a thesaurus, knew how to spell; remember people's names; compose grammatically correct sentences and do complex mathematical computations in her head. The staff loved her, but found her to be a quaint walking, talking museum on legs. Yes, Mary had worked for 45 years at the same place and the reason she had been kept on this long was because she knew how to do each job well and she knew where all the bodies were buried!

Etymology: Retire (Withdraw from circulation or participation; cease to work) & Dinosaur (any of numerous extinct terrestrial reptiles of the Mesozoic era)

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COMMENTS:

"Retirosaur!" Just like the Little Red Hen, let Mary say "Not I!" It's sad we can't make the good things that are in the past, more a part of the good things in the present ... glean the best of the both! - silveryaspen, 2009-01-07: 15:48:00

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Rusticording

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /ruhs-teh-kor-ding/

Sentence: George totally enjoyed bringing his 8-year-old son with him to help clean out Grandpa's attic — where Grandpa had stored all of his old electronics and rusticordings. Grandpa had been an avid technophile in his day and the attic was like an obsolete technology museum. When George showed him the Betamax and VHS video tapes, and explained that they were like DVD-R's, Nathan inpected them and asked where the lasers went. Then, when they got to the cassettes and 8-track tapes, George told Nathan that they were what people kept their MP3's on, and then he showed Nathan the rust-colored tape and demonstrated how it turned. Nathan wanted to know how people selected the song they wanted to hear, and so George had to explain Fast Forward and Rewind, while his son struggled with the archaic concept. The vinyl records were next, and when George showed him the groove on the record, and explained how you had to carefully position the needle so as not to scratch the record, Nathan just winced and said, "Wow, Grandpa really had it rough!"

Etymology: Rust[ic] - iron [ferric] oxide; also, a thin layer of ferric oxide was used in most magnetic tapes, floppy disks and early hard discs (Old German, rost "red") + Recording - storage device containing information (from Old French, recorder "testimony")

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COMMENTS:

Yeah, I can no longer play my rustaccordion either! - arrrteest, 2008-03-14: 12:04:00

Will use it a lot! Excellent word! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 18:22:00

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Retrosurf

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: ret - ro - surf

Sentence: Having only their granddad's discarded computer to rely on Delbert and Javier had no choice but to resort to retrosurfing method of finding information.

Etymology: Retro + surf

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COMMENTS:

What a lot of retrosurfing has been done here today! Great angle! Great word! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 18:41:00

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Antechwhatee

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: ann teh wot eee

Sentence: the sound of the antechwhatee scratched along, every now and then receding so you could make out a strangulated voice crooning something about gramma.

Etymology: antiquity, tech, what

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COMMENTS:

What a witty clever pun! Nice one! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 23:52:00

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Technosaur

Created by: rombus

Pronunciation: tek - no - sore

Sentence: As time marches on, we are creating new media but the list of technosaurs is increasing. I have boxes of VHS tapes and records and even though I can still play them, they are not as clear and vibrant as the CD's and DVD's that I now have.

Etymology: Technology (Mechanisms for distributing messages, including postal systems, radio and television broadcasting companies, telephone, satellite and computer networks) + Dinosaur (extinct reptiles, also used as a term to denote something old)

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COMMENTS:

So appealing! How the kid in all of us loves our technosaurs! - silveryaspen, 2009-01-07: 14:47:00

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Vinylusive

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: vie/nil/yu/siv

Sentence: The kids found some old vinyl records and after trying to use them as frisbees and monster wheels they found their intended use disturbingly vinylusive.

Etymology: vinyl + illusive

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COMMENTS:

Too true! Do you still play your recrods? I sometimes do! Must admit, the sound is better on latter sound media. Now days a 45 is not a record ... but a gun! - silveryaspen, 2009-01-07: 14:41:00

Your reference to 'monster wheel' set off the old Credence Clearwater chorus of: Big wheel keep on turning, Proud Mary keep on burning, Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river. - silveryaspen, 2009-01-07: 16:01:00

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