Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 11, 2016

A rose by any other name…

wait until he watches the news and hears about the collateral damage

Political correctness has been way out of control for years now.

But I do have a thought reading those first couple of panels. If you buy a car fresh from the factory where they NEVER started the engine or put gas in the tank or a battery in the engine compartment, had to push it onto the car carrier so it could be delivered to your home and never goes to a dealership, then it’s pushed off the carrier at your home and you NEVER put gas or a battery in it or even use the key to lock, unlock the doors and then you sell it two years later with absolutely ZERO miles on it, is it a used car or a previously owned but still basically brand new? I mean that’s personally the only true way to call a car previously owned without it being used. Previously owned is a possibly true statement (more likely it was previously leased), but certainly used is true even if the last owner only put 400 miles on the car.

Pig: "He says that you upset him to the point that he was forced to discharge liquids from his eyes to the point that vision had become troublesome.Rat: “No, I made him cry like a girl.”

What’s in a name? Trash by any other name would smell as sweet.

Pre-owned? Pre-abused is what they really mean.

Does anybody have any problem if I refer to mother-of-pearl as “oyster snot”?

Cars are “owned” by the manufacturer until they are sold to the dealer (2nd “owner”) then they are sold to the consumer (3rd “owner”).

“My Old Man’s A Refuse Disposal Operative” by Lonnie Donegan from 1961https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODEShfdxoR0

America has lost both it’s mind and it’s soul! Political correctness sucks to high heaven!!!

Anyone who has bought a used car has said to friends “I got a new car,” which is always followed by “well, new to me.” The problem is just semantics. Both “new” and “used” (and “owned” as explained by F6F5Hellcat) can have multiple meanings.

New or previously owned, they instantly devalue once it leaves the lot. An amazing coincidence.

OOOOoooorrrrr, you could just call them what they want to be called and not get your panties in a knot.

…most people think of ‘politically correct’ people as ‘reality challenged’….

As an engineer, it really annoys me that anyone can just call themselves an engineer’.

This has been one of my pet peeves, too. “Pre-owned” (should) mean “new,” not bad short-hand for “previously owned.” First time I saw this was on a dealer ship for BMWs and other expensive cars. Knew what kind of buyer they were trying to appeal to.

Pre-Owned dirty old truck for sale. call BR-549.

Those on the right have no justification to complain about politically correct speech as they are just as guilty. Freedom fries, gun regulations being gun control and right wing terrorists in Oregon being freedom fighters are just the tip of the iceberg.

Nice, rat. Now the “sanitation engineer” hates you.

I read a story in the paper a few years back where they asked a guy if he called himself a “sanitation engineer.” He replied, “No, I just tell people I drive a truck for the city.”

Why’s the Sanitation Engineer upset?Isn’t he used to Rat’s trash talk by now?

In all fairness, the term “sanitation engineer” is a very old one that predates the current politically correct era by decades. I believe Ed Norton, the sewer worker from The Honeymooners , referred to his job title as “subterranean sanitation engineer”, and that was 60 years ago. People have been coming up with impressive titles for unpleasant or mundane jobs for a very long time.

Sanitation Engineer is a professional title for licensed engineers who design sanitation systems; it is not an appropriate title for the garbage man.

The Australian term is a “garbologist”.

I laugh at the ads that call them “Certified Pre-Owned”. Think about what they’re claiming; that they certify the vehicle to be pre-owned. It’s the same with, “All credit applications will be accepted.” Of course they’ll accept them, they just won’t approve many of them. It’s all in the wording.

Carlin on euphemisms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuEQixrBKCc

Orwell addressed this in 1946: Politics and the English Language.https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htmOf course Carlin’s: “I’m a Modern Man” is as brilliant an exposition on language and its ever changing nature as I’ve ever heard.

“Pre-order”, “Pre-board”, “Pre-lease”, etc, etc…. What happened to plain, simple English?

The moral of the story could be, the more upset you get about things like wording, the more angry you’ll get at the world, and the more you’ll be like rat. Not a good goal, I’d think.

IMO, people who misuse language to make ordinary things sound prettier or more special are a bunch of [feminine sanitary products].

Is that a console TV?

Rat is also a Garbageman.He speaks Garbage after all!xxx

no one mentioned—“encore performance” aka rerun. 1 of my personal favorites in this category

I’m sure Rat will get a visit from his letter carrier bringing a lawsuit from his sanitation engineer.

Yes! Yay, Rat!Used car. No more pretentious, laughable euphemisms!

At the age of 74, my sentiments exactly.

I love the phrase I hear on the radio lately. Such and such “is powered by-”Near as I can figure they mean ‘sponsored.’

Amen, Rat, Amen! For car dealers to think they’ll ever con people into using the phrase “pre-owned” to describe a used car is Dumb! We have one local independent dealer who runs TV ads who isn’t afraid to call them USED cars. I like that guy!

Carlin wasn’t for PC and saying bathroom tissue is PC. Funny thing is, I don’t remember ever hearing anyone ever say bathroom tissue but I vaguely remember the skit in which Carlin mentioned that.

Ah,the male cattle-management specialists of the nineteenth-century western rural United States of America.

Actually, there’s a difference. Pre-owned vehicles have a special warranty from the automaker themselves, and have to undergo an at least 150-point inspection before certification. However, used vehicles only have a warranty from the dealer, if they even HAVE a warranty, but many times they don’t.