# Obsoleted descriptors **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2014, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839 "2014-12-10T11:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/1 "2014-12-10T11:36:00Z")
A “minicomputer” is actually giant hulking cabinet sized machine. “Heavy duty” batteries are significantly lower capacity than Alkaline and Li-Ion batteries and “High Definition TV” has a quarter or less the resolution of 4K. What are some other descriptors that were accurate at the time but now are the opposite of what they describe due to the advancement of technology? ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/2 "2014-12-10T12:42:30Z")
Basically anything with “new” in its name: Windows NT (“New Technology”) from 1994. The “New iPad”, which was the official name given to the 3rd generation iPad. _Le pont Neuf_ (“New Bridge”) in Paris, the city’s oldest bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/3 "2014-12-10T13:42:47Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Basically anything with “new” in its name: > > Windows NT (“New Technology”) from 1994. > > The “New iPad”, which was the official name given to the 3rd generation iPad. > > _Le pont Neuf_ (“New Bridge”) in Paris, the city’s oldest bridge. Oh yeah, the new iPad was a naming debacle. Even Apple stepped back from that one pretty quickly. On the same note, the [New Forest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Forest) is one of England’s oldest extant forests. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/4 "2014-12-10T13:47:05Z")
The New River in West Virginia was named by early American explorers, a couple hundred years ago. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/5 "2014-12-10T13:55:16Z")
Well, the New State House in Bostoin, Massachusetts was opened in 1787, to distinguish it from the Old State House, built in 1713. Both are still standing, and in use under those names. To be fair, though, there hasn’t ben another Massachusetts State House since the 1787 one, so the name is still accurate, though weird, given the date. Boston has an Old City Hall (1865) and a New City Hall (1968). The names aren’t so jarring in this case. But a lot of people would be just as satisfied to name the newer, Brutalist-school building the Ugly City Hall. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/6 "2014-12-10T14:02:45Z")
The “New Wave” school of sf writing, ca. 1965. And how many “posts” is art into the Modern era? ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/7 "2014-12-10T14:08:03Z")
New Coke? (Which sucked so bad, they went back to [del]Old Coke[/del] Coke Classic.) I have heard that it is still available, but I have not seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/8 "2014-12-10T14:19:12Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > New Coke? (Which sucked so bad, they went back to [del]Old Coke[/del] Coke Classic.) > > I have heard that it is still available, but I have not seen it. Sugared New Coka aka Coke II was made until maybe ten years ago for a few markets. The flavor compounding lives on in Diet Coke. (Coke Zero uses the old flavor.) God knows what Tab uses. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/9 "2014-12-10T15:15:17Z")
New College, Oxford (estd. 1379). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/10 "2014-12-10T15:27:32Z")
In mathematics, there is modern algebra whose roots go back to at least 1830 (Galois). New age is getting old pretty fast. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/11 "2014-12-10T15:31:48Z")
Movies are still called “flicks”, short for “flickers”, even though they haven’t flickered for quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/12 "2014-12-10T15:32:38Z")
20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, which is still called that, even though the parent corporation is called “21st Century.” 20th Century Pictures merged with Fox Film Corporation in 1935. Probably the reason the TV network, and later cable news station, formed so close to the end of the 20th century, were just called “Fox.” ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/13 "2014-12-10T15:37:00Z")
[New Kids on the Block](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Kids_on_the_Block) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/14 "2014-12-10T15:44:43Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > The “New Wave” school of sf writing, ca. 1965. Likewise “New Criticism,” a school of literary theory that flourished from the 1940s through the mid-70s. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/15 "2014-12-10T15:49:51Z")
“New” England, for that matter, is the least new part of the US. And Newfoundland, I think we have known about that place for a while. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/16 "2014-12-10T15:51:03Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Movies are still called “flicks”, short for “flickers”, even though they haven’t flickered for quite a while. They flicker at a movie theatre near me. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/17 "2014-12-10T15:54:10Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > “New” England, for that matter, is the least new part of the US. And Newfoundland, I think we have known about that place for a while. Similarly, New South Wales was the first part of Australia to be settled by Europeans. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/18 "2014-12-10T15:57:44Z")
And gnus have been around for a _long_ time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/19 "2014-12-10T16:04:49Z")
Safety razors were (well, are) certainly safer than the straight razors that preceded them but hardly as safe as an electric/mechanical shaver. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839/20 "2014-12-10T16:07:06Z")
Radio waves in the 3 MHz - 30 MHz are called High Frequency (HF). Now, HF is near the low end of the frequency ranges being used; apart from AM radio and shortwave radio, most radio broadcasts and communications use frequencies higher than HF. TV and FM radio are in VHF (Very High Frequency, 30-300 MHz) and UHF (Ultra High Frequency, 300 MHz - 3 GHz). WiFi and satellite communications are in UHF to SHF (Super High Frequency, 3-30 GHz). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsoleted-descriptors/706839.md?page=2)