"pre-owned"

[Dennis R. Preston]

This is an old euphemism for these junkers.

dInIs (ask the man who owns one - extra points for identifying this slogan)



>There's a bit of radio spam  I've been hearing lately, on NPR, in
>connection with some car :  "pre-owned."  On the model of pre-war,
>prehistoric, preview, this ought to mean not yet taken possession of,  but
>I think is actually intended as a euphemism for "used." Sloppiness or
>intentional ambiguity?
>A. Murie

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736