2007-08-16 07:32:23 · 24 answers · asked by Double O 6 in Business & Finance ➔ Advertising & Marketing ➔ Other - Advertising & Marketing
You are absolutely right to question this! The prefix 'pre-' normally means 'before', in the sense of 'coming before' or 'going before, as in 'prefix', 'preface', 'prehistoric', 'pretax profit'. It is singularly uneducated to use it in 'pre-owned' to mean 'owned before'. I put its use in this sense to be indicative of the kind of market mentality which puts an apostrophe before every 's' that comes at the end of a word, likes to refer to a pokey house as 'bijou' and thinks that $9.99 looks better than $10!
Pre-owned *should* be used to refer to such things, perhaps, as the moon before men landed on it or the North Pole before the Russians planted a flag hundreds of metres down on the seabed (even though ownership in these cases is disputed)! However, certain 'clever' people, in search of a word that means the same as 'second-hand' but sounds less tatty, have decided that, because a word is unfamiliar, it doesn't have the connotations that 'used', 'second-hand', 'refurbished' or 'nearly new' do.
In the strictest sense of the word (as incorrectly used), ALL cars are 'pre-owned'. When you buy a new car, even, the ownership is transferred to you from the manufacturer or dealer!
'Pre-owned' is a rubbish term which will soon become OVERused and will lose its newness!
2007-08-16 08:15:09 · answer #1 · answered by Owlwings 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Pre-owned means used.
2007-08-16 07:36:37 · answer #2 · answered by amandafofanda66 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Pre-owned means just that. Someone owned it before. It's the new buzz-word for used.
2007-08-16 07:35:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If something is pre-owned, that's a fancy way of saying it's USED.
In other words, somebody owned it before you did.
i.e. you can buy a USED car, or a PRE-OWNED BMW (same thing, just one sounds more expensive).
I hope that helps.
2007-08-16 07:34:51 · answer #4 · answered by Michael K 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
While holding no brief for those offering pre-owned things, may I ask: Aren't there people who own so many things but never once use them?
2007-08-16 07:39:34 · answer #5 · answered by Chaturvasi 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was owned by someone previously, more than likely used to some extent as well, but not necessarily.
2007-08-16 07:37:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If something is pre-owned it means that the somebody used it.It's a smart way of saying used.
2007-08-16 07:36:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Pre-owned is a better term for 'used'. It is something that has already been used.
2007-08-16 07:39:43 · answer #8 · answered by MaLdiTa 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Pre-owned is a nice way of saying "used."
2007-08-16 07:38:34 · answer #9 · answered by HH@20 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It means it's previously owned.
2007-08-16 07:37:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anne 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋