The retrograde adjective has two meanings. It is used to indicate that a person has old-fashioned, reactionary and out-of-date ideas and, on the other hand, it alludes to a certain type of movement.
The Retrograde Mindset
There are certain ways of understanding life that do not fit well with the present time. In this way, when someone has approaches or ideas from the past, it is said that he is a retrograde, that is, someone outdated, outdated, outdated or reactionary. It is an adjective that is used in a pejorative way, because with it it is implied that someone’s mentality is not very advanced and is anchored in the past.
Although the word retrograde can be applied in different contexts, it is normally used in relation to political ideas or assessments of some social trends. Thus, if a person defends slavery, opposes the women’s vote or declares himself against divorce, it is very likely that he is considered a retrograde.
The fact that certain people receive this rating reminds us that ideas evolve. Among the different examples of transformation of ideas, we could highlight the change in valuation of homosexuality. A few decades ago homosexuality was considered a perverse and abnormal behavior and today a large majority of people admit homosexuality normally and without being shocked.
Regarding the movement of the planets
Some planets in the solar system move irregularly through space. Planets like Mercury, Saturn or Mars move from west to east, but this movement has interruptions for a certain time and the direction is changed from east to west, that is, inversely. When this happens, we speak of the retrograde movement of the planets, since there is a momentary setback until the normal movement of the planetary orbit resumes again.
Scientific understanding of the retrograde motion of the planets did not come until the 16th century, when the astronomer Copernicus introduced the foundations of the heliocentric theory.
In music there is also the concept of retrograde motion.
In musical terminology, this movement occurs when a melody is read in the opposite direction to the usual one, that is, starting at the end and ending at the beginning. This circumstance is a modality of contrapuntal technique.
Photo: Fotolia – baloothebear
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