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skiamorph

skiamorph
 n.— «A skiamorph is a word whose origin is at odds with the current form of the origin. For example, no one *dials* a phone anymore; *black*boards are usually green.» —“Pictographs” by Joe Clark Media Access Mailing List Sept. 9, 1997. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Off the Turnip Truck (episode #1532)

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...

Abso-Bloomin-Lutely (episode #1526)

The autocomplete function on your phone comes in handy, of course. But is it changing the way we write and how linguists study language? Also, suppose you could invite any two authors, living or dead, to dinner. Who’s on your guest list and...

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