Owlwings
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You are absolutely right to question this! The prefix 'pre-' normally means 'before', in the sense of 'coming before' or 'going before, as in 'prefix', 'preface', 'prehistoric', 'pretax profit'. It is singularly uneducated to use it in 'pre-owned' to mean 'owned before'. I put its use in this sense to be indicative of the kind of market mentality which puts an apostrophe before every 's' that comes at the end of a word, likes to refer to a pokey house as 'bijou' and thinks that $9.99 looks better than $10!
Pre-owned *should* be used to refer to such things, perhaps, as the moon before men landed on it or the North Pole before the Russians planted a flag hundreds of metres down on the seabed (even though ownership in these cases is disputed)! However, certain 'clever' people, in search of a word that means the same as 'second-hand' but sounds less tatty, have decided that, because a word is unfamiliar, it doesn't have the connotations that 'used', 'second-hand', 'refurbished' or 'nearly new' do.
In the strictest sense of the word (as incorrectly used), ALL cars are 'pre-owned'. When you buy a new car, even, the ownership is transferred to you from the manufacturer or dealer!
'Pre-owned' is a rubbish term which will soon become OVERused and will lose its newness! |
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Anne
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It means it's previously owned. |
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Taylor G.
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its been owned. |
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free vodka
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it's second hand.not new..could be very old depending on whether its a car or a piece of furniture |
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Chaturvasi
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While holding no brief for those offering pre-owned things, may I ask: Aren't there people who own so many things but never once use them? |
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Danny N
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it means its already been owned. someone else has already used it and returned it. Preowned means its been previously owned. |
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Richard C
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Fancy term for USED. |
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c man
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it can mean both. usually it means it was owned. |
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jjjjjjjjj
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It was owned by someone previously, more than likely used to some extent as well, but not necessarily. |
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mihalis_9999
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it means it is used. |
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PepsiLime
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Pre-owned means just that. Someone owned it before. It's the new buzz-word for used. |
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Michael K
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If something is pre-owned, that's a fancy way of saying it's USED.
In other words, somebody owned it before you did.
i.e. you can buy a USED car, or a PRE-OWNED BMW (same thing, just one sounds more expensive).
I hope that helps. |
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amandafofanda66
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Pre-owned means used. |
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HH@20
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Pre-owned is a nice way of saying "used." |
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B0rn 2 Flyy
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it used
-Sidekick™ |
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Kenny J
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USED |
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mommy44us
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Used car! Pre-owned duh........... previously owned! |
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MANGOMIATA has awesome thighs!
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It is a reconditioned USED.
Sandy :O) |
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Steve F
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Pre-owned is a term that was coined to replace the word "Used". That's it. |
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Sapient
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It was already owned. this is a joke right? |
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MaLdiTa
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Pre-owned is a better term for 'used'. It is something that has already been used. |
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Matsukaze
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It means it's used, and has had a previous owner. |
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Airbender
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If something is pre-owned it means that the somebody used it.It's a smart way of saying used. |
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Moe_Fugga
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you have GOT to be F@ckin Sh!ttin me. |
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