There’s a lot of words we still use, even though the thing it referred to is no longer readily used. Hanging up the phone has been mentioned as one, but we sometimes still “dial” a phone number on our smartphones using the “dialpad”, even though dial-up telephones are no longer readily used. Cut, copy, and paste refer to cutting up / copying a bit of paper and pasting it on another document, but in the digital age it means to move data into and out of the (digital) clipboard. The word clipboard now refers primarily to the digital version, as the physical ones are less common in comparison. We still film videos, even though most video cameras are digital. Most people don’t use gloveboxes to store gloves. Uppercase and lowercase letters referred to the drawers used to store the moveable type for typewriters, which most people don’t use anymore. Podcasts referred to the popular iPod, which is no longer sold by Apple. Software patches used to refer to how parts of paper tape and punched cards were cut out and replaced with literal patches to modify the program.* Stock footage is no longer stored in “stockrooms”. Individual songs are still referred to as “tracks”, even though vinyl is no longer ubiquitous. “Hot off the press” referred to how newspapers feel warm when recently printed, but now just refers to fresh media (usually not paper-based). To “sack” someone no longer involves an actual sack where they put all their things in, it just means to dismiss somebody from a job.
As this xkcd comic shows, there are loads of anachronyms, like:
tin foil (referring to foil made of aluminium) is sometimes used
sponges (the scrubby) are no longer made of actual (sea) sponge (the animal)
silverware isn’t always made of silver anymore, most people own those made of stainless steel
linens don’t always refer to bedding made of linen (the fabric)
clothes irons and the act of ironing no longer involves iron, modern “irons” are made of stainless steel
many glasses now use plastic lenses, not glass
“9 iron” refers to a golf club, being that they are now made with materials like stainless steel. Presumably wood is another type of golf club that is no longer made of wood, but I haven’t heard of that term
sidewalk chalk (the kind for drawing) is no longer made of chalk (the rock)
rubber ducks are majorly made of plastic nowadays
And the title text of the xkcd also notes that paper money is still called that, despite it now being composed of other materials with better durability and security.
*Note that the term “bug” did not, in fact, actually come from a literal bug. The term “bug” was already being used to describe annoying things (this is “bugging” me, for example), and the story of the moth trapped in a computer causing an issue was fictional. It was noted as a joke by Grace Hopper (a great pioneer in computing by the way, she developed some of the first computing languages!)
IMO, steel should get a pass. The atomic element of iron still makes up like 98% of most steels, and when you look at the history of smithing the difference between iron and steel can get pretty hard.
There’s a lot of words we still use, even though the thing it referred to is no longer readily used. Hanging up the phone has been mentioned as one, but we sometimes still “dial” a phone number on our smartphones using the “dialpad”, even though dial-up telephones are no longer readily used. Cut, copy, and paste refer to cutting up / copying a bit of paper and pasting it on another document, but in the digital age it means to move data into and out of the (digital) clipboard. The word clipboard now refers primarily to the digital version, as the physical ones are less common in comparison. We still film videos, even though most video cameras are digital. Most people don’t use gloveboxes to store gloves. Uppercase and lowercase letters referred to the drawers used to store the moveable type for typewriters, which most people don’t use anymore. Podcasts referred to the popular iPod, which is no longer sold by Apple. Software patches used to refer to how parts of paper tape and punched cards were cut out and replaced with literal patches to modify the program.* Stock footage is no longer stored in “stockrooms”. Individual songs are still referred to as “tracks”, even though vinyl is no longer ubiquitous. “Hot off the press” referred to how newspapers feel warm when recently printed, but now just refers to fresh media (usually not paper-based). To “sack” someone no longer involves an actual sack where they put all their things in, it just means to dismiss somebody from a job.
a lotall of the ones I mentioned came from this source: https://englishinprogress.net/blog/30-examples-of-anachronyms/relevant xkcd (there is one for everything): https://xkcd.com/3075/
As this xkcd comic shows, there are loads of anachronyms, like:
And the title text of the xkcd also notes that paper money is still called that, despite it now being composed of other materials with better durability and security.
*Note that the term “bug” did not, in fact, actually come from a literal bug. The term “bug” was already being used to describe annoying things (this is “bugging” me, for example), and the story of the moth trapped in a computer causing an issue was fictional. It was noted as a joke by Grace Hopper (a great pioneer in computing by the way, she developed some of the first computing languages!)
IMO, steel should get a pass. The atomic element of iron still makes up like 98% of most steels, and when you look at the history of smithing the difference between iron and steel can get pretty hard.