Best by...

Fri Jul 4 19:55:18 UTC 2008

Maybe they shd say "Buy by" saving another letter's worth.
AM

Original Message:
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From: Marc Velasco marcjvelasco at GMAIL.COM
Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 13:51:41 -0400
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "Best by..."

I wouldn't put that construction past the motives of manufacturers who were
eager to shave off 4 letters worth of ink (or whatever toner-like substance
they use for labels).

On Fri, Jul 4, 2008 at 12:54 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "Best by..."
>
>
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>
> At 7/4/2008 12:48 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >I mentioned this a few years ago as an idiotic variant of "Best
> >before..." stamped on grocery products.
> >
> >Now I've seen it again on Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding: "Best by Aug122009."
>
> The superlative form of "better buy [by"]?
>
> Joel
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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