As I understand it, "return" is a shorthand for "carriage return" - as on typewriters, going to a new line meant returning the carriage to its original (start of line) position.
Carriage return moved the paper (on typewriters before the IBM Ball) and moved the print head (the "ball" on an IBM typewriter, or the actual print head on TTYs and DECWriter equivalents) back to column 0.
Line Feed moved the paper up one line, Form Feed moved the paper up by a "form length" or, in the case of chain printers, to the particular position on the chain that was synchronized with the perforations on the paper itself.
The carriage return physical device on the typewriter combined moving the carriage (which could be done by hand) and the rolling of the paper up one line (which could also be done by hand) into one convenient motion.
> Carriage return moved the paper (on typewriters before the IBM Ball) and moved the print head (the "ball" on an IBM typewriter, or the actual print head on TTYs and DECWriter equivalents) back to column 0.
Carriage return always returned the carriage to the far right. Neither the print ball (if there was one), the printwheel, nor the typebars moved. Linefeed rotated the platen.
It's true the carriage return lever operated both the carriage and the platen. Manually operated with the left hand and pushed one level deep it would release the carriage lock and let you return the carriage to the right. Pushed a second level deep it would rotate the platen one, one and a half, or two lines depending on the setting.
> Neither the print ball (if there was one), the printwheel, nor the typebars moved.
Certainly the head moved on most if not all ball/cylinder/wheel devices. Look at the Selectrics, Teletype 33, the Diablo/Xerox/Qume terminals, as common examples.
I have never seen a Selectric in which the ball moved instead of the carriage. I can't imagine how complicated the mechanics would be for that and how often it would jam, break, or malfunction. Certainly not something a company such as IBM would make their reputation on. I used many Selectrics in my time.
Yeah, it kinda blew my mind when I figured out that DOS was actually correct in that way, and unix was 'cheating' by magically inserting CR into the terminal codes.
I believe that it also has to do with the fact that at the time there no ‘screens’, only teletypers. So a new line is “return the carriage to the start” and “feed another line” (of paper) into the printer.
