It's the first time I've heard it and I'm OLD. But I'm not Scots, though of Scots (and Welsh) descent. I wonder if any Scots could tell us if it's common?
It's easy to research this kind of question yourself. Google for "site:bbc.co.uk retiral", and what do you get? 246 results, and on the first page:
- "On the Retiral of John McLeod, Senior Guardsman, Wick Railway Station"
- "Scottish referee Kenny Clark talks to BBC Scotland's Liam McLeod about the controversial retiral of referee Dougie McDonald."
- "Scotland Vogts shrugs off Weir 'retiral'"
- "MS forces [Dundee midfielder] Artero retiral"
- "The retiral of [Scottish player] Chris Paterson from international rugby"
- "Donald Stewart [MP, Western Isles, held] on to the seat until his retiral in 1987"
So this word appears regularly in BBC headlines and articles by Scottish writers on Scottish subjects.
I worked for 9 years for HMCE, which had loads of Scots working there and I never heard the word "retiral".
English is a big language, as I'm sure you know, with many dialects. You can speak it all your life and still learn new words every day.* So maybe a bit of research would be appropriate before condemning an unfamiliar usage as a mistake?
* Today I learned the word
coffle.