handcrafted

[Dan Goncharoff]

I would have thought design is the important concept, rather than manufacture.
DanG

On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 1:34 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: handcrafted
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A word's meaning is what one is fully justified in believing when the word
> is encountered.  In many cases all that is "fully justified" may  not be
> entirely clear. In the case of adspeak "handcrafted," however, there is no
> justification for the reader or hearer to assume that the product is made by
> the direct action of the hands of actual craftspeople. Like "natural," and
> some other terms, "handcrafted" in current use is routinely used more for
> its favorable connotations than for its informativeness.
>
> I'd say that - at most - the recent usage conveys a concern that the product
> be regarded as of high quality and careful manufacture.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 10:48 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: handcrafted
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Over the last five years, one sees "handcrafted" used to promote items
>> like fragrances, soaps, and teas. I don't think Jonathan exaggerated
>> the meaning of word in these contexts.
>>
>> DanG
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 12:27 PM,  <ronbutters at aol.com> wrote:
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       ronbutters at AOL.COM
>> > Subject:      Re: handcrafted
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > JL surely exaggerates re: what "handcrafted" means nowadays. Can't one
>> just conclude that the ad he cites is misleading, given that "handcrafted"
>> has to analyze as "crafted by hand" (as dictionaries suggest)?
>> > ------Original Message------
>> > From: Jonathan Lighter
>> > Sender: ADS-L
>> > To: ADS-L
>> > ReplyTo: ADS-L
>> > Subject: [ADS-L] handcrafted
>> > Sent: Dec 27, 2010 11:58 AM
>> >
>> > OED ignores "handcrafted" in the mesmeric commercial sense of "carefully
>> > made or prepared according to industrial standards."  Celestial
>> Seasonings,
>> > e.g., claims that its tea blends are "handcrafted."
>> >
>> > I suppose in the case of CS, it could mean that somewhere, at some time,
>> a
>> > "blendmaster" (sic) mixed a little of this and a little of that by hand
>> till
>> > he liked the taste.  Cool.  However, the usual connotation of
>> "handcrafted"
>> > is that the very product you're holding was made by hand or with the
>> > personal attention of a living human to every detail.  Nowadays this is
>> > rarely the case.
>> >
>> > By "nowadays," I mean since the introduction of "handcrafted" to describe
>> > otherwise routinely manufactured items.
>> >
>> > JL
>> >
>> > --
>> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>> >
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>> >
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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