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Used to mean something else in the world of machinery and auto mechanics. Old school stuff. There is a screw that holds the distributor cap in place. A mechanic would loosen that screw and rotate the whole distributor cap very slightly, maybe 5° or so, the thing is round, so that's a really small portion of a circle. So one could turn it clockwise or counterclockwise to advance or retard the timing.
And that usage is still fine and actively used in those kinds of industries. But OP is just being edgy.
I have a project car I'm working on, and the distributor timing was so far advanced that the engine would barely run, even when the adjustment was at full retard. I took the distributor out and re-installed it one gear tooth retarded, and now I can set the timing correctly.
I couldn't have told this story on reddit, my comment would have been removed.
That's stupid.
Thanks for your input.
Evidence is in Lemmy still needs /s.
Aviation as well - procedures might say to "retard the throttle"