[Ads-l] retcon

[Jonathan Lighter]

Thanks, Nancy. That prompts me to suggest a likely folk-etymology of the
new sense, "to con retroactively."

I also prophesy a further sense, as in * "retconning the American people."

Watch this space.

JL

On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 8:09 AM Nancy Friedman <wordworking at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I wrote about an earlier citation (1988) in a 2013 blog post:
>
> https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2013/12/word-of-the-week-retcon.html
>
> On Thu, May 13, 2021, 3:46 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Charlie Sykes, MSNBC:
> >
> > "They're trying to find a way to rationalize [Jan. 6]: 'Well, it wasn't
> so
> > bad.' This is called 'retconning' - you simply rewrite the history. You
> > pretend that what happened didn't happen, and you put your own spin on
> it."
> >
> > OED: (1989):
> >
> > "To revise retrospectively (an aspect of a fictional work or series),
> > typically by means of a revelation which imposes a different
> interpretation
> > on previously described events."
> >
> > It ain't just for fiction any more. And you don't need a "revelation."
> >
> > Just lie.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org