handcrafted

[Dan Goncharoff]

If we are talking about fragrances, both sentences make a lot of
sense, but do not mean the same thing.

I would expect something "handcrafted from the world's most luxurious
materials" to have been made, produced, manufactured by hand.

A fragrance "handcrafted by the world's top-flight designers" will
have a formula developed from the personal taste of individuals who
are considered leading professionals. Nothing is necessarily being
promised, however, about the quality of manufacture, unless it is
mentioned.

Here's an example:
http://hawaiiandays.com/AJI/shop.htm
"Buy this set of five classic handcrafted Hawaiian Ajith perfumes..."

Elsewhere it says, "Ajith has done it again! Our treasured master
aroma therapist and parfumier, Ajith, has created 'Anjali,' (named
after his beloved daughter) a fresh, lushly-youthful island
fragrance..."

DanG

On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: handcrafted
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This sounds normal to me:
>
> "Handcrafted from the world's most luxurious materials."
>
> This doesn't:
>
> "Handcrafted by the world's top-flight designers."
>
> ...though I wouldn't say it was impossible.  But maybe "produced" would be a
> better word than "manufactured."
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 12:41 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: handcrafted
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> 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:
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> > 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:
>> >
>> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> >> -----------------------
>> >> 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
>> >> -----------------------
>> >> > 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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>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>> >> >
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>> >>
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>> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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