Pre-loved

I saw the word 'pre-loved' in a story in yesterday's Metro, a free newspaper handed out at stations, about Transport for London donating unclaimed lost property to charity (I can't find the article online, but this one is the same story). Toys would be donated to the Salvation Army, who would distribute them to disadvantaged families for Christmas. The toys were described as 'pre-loved', a euphemism for second-hand.

 

I won't go into great detail about the history of the word 'pre-loved', as Stan Carey over at Sentence First has already written a much better account than I could write. Pre-loved is in the OED, though; it went in in March 2007, and the first citation is from a Lima (Ohio) News article of 1972.

 

What prompted me to write this post was remembering that I have seen the phrase 'gently worn' a fair bit recently, another euphemism for 'second-hand', this time referring to clothes. Less common, but still with over 7 million hits online, is the similar 'gently used'.

 

In many contexts the word 'second-hand' or 'used' has no negative connotations. Most people are quite happy to buy a used car, and shopping streets are full of charity shops selling second-hand goods. These are very popular in the UK. However, I can understand that in the context of giving presents to children you might not want to emphasise that the toys are second-hand. Being something of a cynic, I think that dress agencies (another euphemism for second-hand clothing shops), eBay sellers and the like feel that using the phrase 'gently worn' makes the item sound nearly new (another common euphemism) and thus justifies a higher price. In all my years helping out behind the counter at Scouts' jumble sales I don't remember any of us ever referring to anything on sale as anything other than 'old' or 'second-hand', and that was probably because we were charging 10 pence or so an item -- rather than it having to do with the relative wear and tear or quality of the goods.

 

It is often said that English has no true synonyms. Even if two words have the same meaning they often have different connotations or evoke different images (moist and damp, for instance). Certainly this is true about all the words that mean broadly 'old'. Clothing described as 'vintage' (or gently worn), or furniture described as antique, will probably have a high price tag; it would be a foolish seller who described an item as 'old' or 'old-fashioned'.

Comments

[John]

Interesting. We've got similar terms and usages across the second hand domain. A used low-midrange car would be "used"; a used premium vehicle might be "previously owned". I've also seen "lovingly maintained".

Great post. Thanks Susan.

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks, John. The equivalent of 'lovingly maintained' in the UK would be 'one careful lady owner'. Mind you, that's not very PC these days!

[Marc Leavitt]

Susan:
In America, to be compared to a used car salesman is the equivalent of calling someone a leper(in its sense as an insult as opposed to the medical condition), so autos today are never used, but always pre-owned. Another euphemism that surfaces around the holidays, is re-gifting, to describe giving away the necktie you don't want, or the knick-knack you would never display on your table or bookcase. A lot of people justify the latter activity as practical, and a fine way to fight against rampant consumerism.

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks, Marc. Yes, used-car salesmen (and it's usually men that are specified) have the same reputation here. Re-gifting goes on here, of course, but the word isn't used very much.

[Stan]

A very interesting post, Susan — and thank you for the link. "Gently worn" is amusing. These clothes were never worn during vigorous activity, nor ever removed in brutish haste!

Marc's "re-gifting" reminds me of a Seinfeld line: "I don't trust this guy. I think he re-gifted, then he de-gifted..."