where did the word retro come from?

Question

its doing my head in lately retro this and retro that

Answer 1

“Retro” has long been used as a prefix, intended to suggest that which is past or derivative. In the postwar period, it increased in usage with the advent of retrorockets used by the US space program in the 1950s and 1960s. It gained cultural currency with French reevaluations of Charles de Gaulle and that country’s role in World War II. The French mode retro of the 1970s reappraised in film and novels the conduct of French civilians during the Nazi occupation. The term “retro” was soon applied to nostalgic French fashions that recalled the same period. Shortly it was coined into English by the fashion and culture press, where it suggests a rather cynical revival of older but relatively recent fashions. (Elizabeth E. Guffey, Retro: The Culture of Revival). In Simulacra and Simulation, French theorist Jean Baudrillard describes retro as a demythologization of the past, distancing the present from the big ideas that drove the “modern” age (Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation. “Retro” can be used to simply mean “old fashioned” or old, functioning much like “timeless” or “classic”. It has also been associated with modernism in the immediate post-war years, encompassing an aesthetic that ranges from tail fins on Cadillacs to ranch houses. Sometimes, it can also suggest an entire outlook on life, for example, social conservatism, home schooling or the embrace of traditional gender roles. “Retro” can also be applied to forms of technological obsolescence, for example, manual typewriters, cash registers, bulky hand-held cell phones, or the resurrection of old computer games. But most commonly, “retro” is used to describe objects and attitudes from the recent past that no longer seem “modern.” It suggests a fundamental shift in the way we relate to the past. Different from more traditional forms of revivalism, “retro” suggests a half ironic, half longing consideration of the recent past. It has been called an “unsentimental nostalgia,” recalling “modern” forms that are no longer current.

Today is often used in a positive sense, referring to quirky or attractive products that are no longer available. For example, "Retro fashion" or "Retro Chic" may consist of outdated styles, such as tie-dyed shirts from the 1960s, or poodle skirts from the 1950s. A love of retro objects (things from the past) is called retrophilia.Retro often reflects a sensibility aligned with camp. Camp is an ironic attitude, an explicit re-introduction of non-dominant forms.

Answer 2

Retro is Latin and means backwards

It is given in the form Retro-
This means that it can be put in front
of an other word to give it a sort of "backward"
meaning.
If you pass a law, then it starts NOW.
If however you pass a law which is retro-active
Then it can start 3 months ago.
This is not as nuts as it seems.
Government passes a law taxing kiddies lollipops.
some pay 1 rate,some pay another.
3 months later Littlle Kid challenges validity of law and wins.
Govt makes another Law Abolishing Tax on Lollipops.
Now, as it's election year they make the law
RETRO-ACTIVE
This means that all the 3 months taxes from before shouldn't have been paid
Because the law didn't exist.
Remember RETRO means Backward or backward -acting.
A rocket sends a rocket forward.
Its retro-rockets send it back(or at least)slow it down!

You're all right
It's become a "buzz" word for smart talkes
Retrospective:
I see Kertensky is doing a"Retro-spective" of his "Later Tangerine Period works"

Oh! Shameik ! You put it so CLEARLY!
Go to the "Preppy" thing and see my appreciation of you.
Retro is a word you can throw around anywhere to look knowledgeable
"Don't you think that in Scrumptszlahngen's "Retrospective" that
the "Intro" is a little too "Retro"?

Have you seen the latest PC Theory?
Darwin was DWEM so he must be WRONG
He got it WRONG !
Evolution is in RETRO-MODE!

Answer 3

“Retro” has long been used as a prefix, intended to suggest that which is past or derivative. In the postwar period, it increased in usage with the advent of retrorockets used by the US space program in the 1950s and 1960s. It gained cultural currency with French reevaluations of Charles de Gaulle and that country’s role in World War II. The French mode retro of the 1970s reappraised in film and novels the conduct of French civilians during the Nazi occupation. The term “retro” was soon applied to nostalgic French fashions that recalled the same period.

Answer 4

It's short for retrograde. The word retrograde derives from the Latin words retro = backwards, and gradus = step, literally meaning "backwards step".

So when people say retro, they mean cool stuff from the past that has come back in fashion. As in the phrase "retro defiance" which means rejecting current ideas about healthy living, and going back to past generations' allegedly non-healthy activities like eating lots of meat. See attached web site for description.

Answer 5

Retro is short for retrospective

Answer 6

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Answer 7

all wrong, sorry. the word RETRO comes from latin language Retro, which means from behind thus "back in time"

Answer 8

English language. Short for retrospective.

Answer 9

It's an abbreviated version of the word "retrospect" or "retrospective".

Answer 10

Retrograde, moving backwards; or retrospective, looking back.