The words “retro,” “vintage,” and “antique” are often used synonymously by the general public. However, people that try to live like they’re in the past, like me, know there’s a very big difference between all these words.

Retro is an adjective to describe modern things that are designed and made to look old or from another decade. It’s modern to look vintage. Vintage describes an object that was made at least 20 years ago; that means the most recent thing that can be classified as “vintage” is from 1995. An antique is something (or describes something) made at least 100 years prior, meaning the newest “antique” is from 1915.

I can’t quite stress the difference between all these words enough. Kind of like good, great, and terrific, they have similar meanings, yet are still fairly distinct. Next time you say something is retro, vintage, or an antique, make sure you choose the correct one for your noun.

This is the opening article of the retro series from our Editor of Student Opinion Sammi Tester. Be sure to stay tuned for future articles.