A new retronym came with my overpriced Web order from Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach. A retronym, for the uninitiated, is a term that seems redundant but may (or may not) have become valid as the world evolved. Before the electric guitar, acoustic guitars were simply guitars. Before roller skates, ice skates were simply skates.
And so now Joe's Stone Crab sends me its signature product packed in wet ice. Yes, I know about dry ice, but wet ice? . . . Several of my co-workers are arguing with me in defense of a similar term: unique visitors. Webheads writing for dimwits use this term to make it clear that multiple visits to a site by the same person are not counted as multiple visitors. Duh! Note my use of the terms visitors and visits. If you told me four of your relatives came over for dinner last night, I'd rule out the possibility that it was just Uncle Joe and Aunt Minnie but both stepped out for a smoke at one point. Visitors means visitors.
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