"own it for a limited time"

[sagehen]

>On 2/26/06, Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
>> Disney only releases its classic movies on DVD for brief periods in
>> order to boost demand, with _The Lady and the Tramp_ the latest to get
>> this treatment. A commercial currently running for the DVD exhorts,
>> "Own it for a limited time!"
>>
>> Has the verb "own" shifted while I wasn't looking, from 'possess' to
>>'acquire'?
>
>Ah, never mind. I just caught the commercial again, and it turns out I
>misheard it the first time. The line is "only for a limited time," not
>"own it for a limited time." Sorry about that!
>
>
>--Ben Zimmer
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, heck!  Just as I was readying a really elegant thesis on how this was
designed to catch the fancy of venal types who always have the thought of
resale (with possible price appreciation) lurking  in the backs of their
minds  when they buy anything.  Everything  an investment....universal
commodification & so on................
AM


~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org