What's the difference between retrospect and hindsight?
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Are they synonyms for looking back on the past that have separate contextual applications or do their meanings differ?
meaning differences synonyms
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Emma
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up vote
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down vote
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Are they synonyms for looking back on the past that have separate contextual applications or do their meanings differ?
meaning differences synonyms
asked yesterday
Emma
111
New contributor
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
You can look up their meanings in one or more online dictionaries. It might be interesting to hear about your conclusions.
– Mari-Lou A
yesterday
1
Hindsight always brings new understanding; retrospect may or may not.
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
@michael.hor257k 'In hindsight/retrospect...' are both intros into new understanding to me. Can you give a sentence where one replaced with another shows this difference?
– Mitch
yesterday
Emma, there are no exact synonyms in life. If there are two different words for roughly the same thing, there are at least two contexts where the meaning and connotations will differ, even if only slightly. For most people (including myself), 'bucket' and 'pail' are as close to synonymous as possible. But if it is made of wood, I'd feel weird if it were called a 'wooden pail'. And fires aren't put out with a 'pail brigade'. And Jack and Jill didn't fetch a 'bucket of water'. That last may seem irrelevant, but fixed phrases grow from repeated verses and contribute to semantic drift.
– Mitch
yesterday
@Mitch "In retrospect" is not the same thing as "retrospect".
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
|
show 4 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
Are they synonyms for looking back on the past that have separate contextual applications or do their meanings differ?
meaning differences synonyms
asked yesterday
Emma
111
New contributor
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Are they synonyms for looking back on the past that have separate contextual applications or do their meanings differ?
meaning differences synonyms
meaning differences synonyms
asked yesterday
Emma
111
New contributor
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Emma
111
New contributor
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Emma
111
New contributor
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Emma
111
asked yesterday
Emma
111
111
New contributor
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Emma is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
You can look up their meanings in one or more online dictionaries. It might be interesting to hear about your conclusions.
– Mari-Lou A
yesterday
1
Hindsight always brings new understanding; retrospect may or may not.
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
@michael.hor257k 'In hindsight/retrospect...' are both intros into new understanding to me. Can you give a sentence where one replaced with another shows this difference?
– Mitch
yesterday
Emma, there are no exact synonyms in life. If there are two different words for roughly the same thing, there are at least two contexts where the meaning and connotations will differ, even if only slightly. For most people (including myself), 'bucket' and 'pail' are as close to synonymous as possible. But if it is made of wood, I'd feel weird if it were called a 'wooden pail'. And fires aren't put out with a 'pail brigade'. And Jack and Jill didn't fetch a 'bucket of water'. That last may seem irrelevant, but fixed phrases grow from repeated verses and contribute to semantic drift.
– Mitch
yesterday
@Mitch "In retrospect" is not the same thing as "retrospect".
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
|
show 4 more comments
3
You can look up their meanings in one or more online dictionaries. It might be interesting to hear about your conclusions.
– Mari-Lou A
yesterday
1
Hindsight always brings new understanding; retrospect may or may not.
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
@michael.hor257k 'In hindsight/retrospect...' are both intros into new understanding to me. Can you give a sentence where one replaced with another shows this difference?
– Mitch
yesterday
Emma, there are no exact synonyms in life. If there are two different words for roughly the same thing, there are at least two contexts where the meaning and connotations will differ, even if only slightly. For most people (including myself), 'bucket' and 'pail' are as close to synonymous as possible. But if it is made of wood, I'd feel weird if it were called a 'wooden pail'. And fires aren't put out with a 'pail brigade'. And Jack and Jill didn't fetch a 'bucket of water'. That last may seem irrelevant, but fixed phrases grow from repeated verses and contribute to semantic drift.
– Mitch
yesterday
@Mitch "In retrospect" is not the same thing as "retrospect".
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
3
3
You can look up their meanings in one or more online dictionaries. It might be interesting to hear about your conclusions.
– Mari-Lou A
yesterday
You can look up their meanings in one or more online dictionaries. It might be interesting to hear about your conclusions.
– Mari-Lou A
yesterday
1
1
Hindsight always brings new understanding; retrospect may or may not.
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
Hindsight always brings new understanding; retrospect may or may not.
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
@michael.hor257k 'In hindsight/retrospect...' are both intros into new understanding to me. Can you give a sentence where one replaced with another shows this difference?
– Mitch
yesterday
@michael.hor257k 'In hindsight/retrospect...' are both intros into new understanding to me. Can you give a sentence where one replaced with another shows this difference?
– Mitch
yesterday
Emma, there are no exact synonyms in life. If there are two different words for roughly the same thing, there are at least two contexts where the meaning and connotations will differ, even if only slightly. For most people (including myself), 'bucket' and 'pail' are as close to synonymous as possible. But if it is made of wood, I'd feel weird if it were called a 'wooden pail'. And fires aren't put out with a 'pail brigade'. And Jack and Jill didn't fetch a 'bucket of water'. That last may seem irrelevant, but fixed phrases grow from repeated verses and contribute to semantic drift.
– Mitch
yesterday
Emma, there are no exact synonyms in life. If there are two different words for roughly the same thing, there are at least two contexts where the meaning and connotations will differ, even if only slightly. For most people (including myself), 'bucket' and 'pail' are as close to synonymous as possible. But if it is made of wood, I'd feel weird if it were called a 'wooden pail'. And fires aren't put out with a 'pail brigade'. And Jack and Jill didn't fetch a 'bucket of water'. That last may seem irrelevant, but fixed phrases grow from repeated verses and contribute to semantic drift.
– Mitch
yesterday
@Mitch "In retrospect" is not the same thing as "retrospect".
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
@Mitch "In retrospect" is not the same thing as "retrospect".
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
|
show 4 more comments
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3
You can look up their meanings in one or more online dictionaries. It might be interesting to hear about your conclusions.
– Mari-Lou A
yesterday
1
Hindsight always brings new understanding; retrospect may or may not.
– michael.hor257k
yesterday
@michael.hor257k 'In hindsight/retrospect...' are both intros into new understanding to me. Can you give a sentence where one replaced with another shows this difference?
– Mitch
yesterday
Emma, there are no exact synonyms in life. If there are two different words for roughly the same thing, there are at least two contexts where the meaning and connotations will differ, even if only slightly. For most people (including myself), 'bucket' and 'pail' are as close to synonymous as possible. But if it is made of wood, I'd feel weird if it were called a 'wooden pail'. And fires aren't put out with a 'pail brigade'. And Jack and Jill didn't fetch a 'bucket of water'. That last may seem irrelevant, but fixed phrases grow from repeated verses and contribute to semantic drift.
– Mitch
yesterday
@Mitch "In retrospect" is not the same thing as "retrospect".
– michael.hor257k
yesterday