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Discussion Groups / British English / February 2006the sense of some words
Hallo, my native language is Dutch and I'm learning English. Can somebody help me to give a description of: 1) vintage clothes (mayby old-fashioned or old clothes) 2) Second-hand glass eyes. (Are it really eyes made of glass ?) Her the article of the author: Title: " I'm a car-boot sale addict and proud of it." " ... The prices are usually made up on the spot, and haggling over them is part of the fun. If you get there early enough, you can pick up some amazing bargains - old records, out of print books, vintage clothes .... On top of all that, there's lots of other strange bits and pieces to make you think: old photograph albums, collections of old love letters, second-hand glass eyes .... " Thanks very much, R. Paeps > Hallo, > my native language is Dutch and I'm learning English. > Can somebody help me to give a description of: > 1) vintage clothes (mayby old-fashioned or old clothes) 'Vintage' literaly means 'of a certain year'. A vintage botlle of wine can be from 1806 or 2006. Age does not come into it. However theword is often used (wrongly IMO) to mean 'old' or that seems old and this is the use with clothes. It means they look old so when you buy something new you pay extra to get it looking worn out. Isn't capitalism wondeful? > 2) Second-hand glass eyes. (Are it really eyes made of glass ?) Yes. False eyes are made of glass, or perhaps plastic these days/ >'Vintage' literaly means 'of a certain year'. A vintage botlle of wine >can be from 1806 or 2006. Age does not come into it. However theword is >often used (wrongly IMO) to mean 'old' or that seems old and this is the >use with clothes. It means they look old so when you buy something new >you pay extra to get it looking worn out. Isn't capitalism wondeful? IIRC there used to be a distinction with cars. If older than a certain year they were Veteran. If newer, but still old, they were Vintage. (Or vice versa.) Similarly it was suggested that an antique was 100+ years old but I don't know if that was ever formal. I don't know how old the term "bygones" is but I've never liked it since I first heard it.  SignaturePhil C. >> 'Vintage' literaly means 'of a certain year'. A vintage botlle of >> wine can be from 1806 or 2006. Age does not come into it. However [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > year they were Veteran. If newer, but still old, they were Vintage. > (Or vice versa.) IIRC these were defined by the relevant organisations of enthusiasts. The Veteran Car Club defined "veteran" cars as those built before the abolition of the red flag in something like 1904. The Vintage Sports Car Club defined "vintage" as being from then up to 1930, but accepted selected makes of car after that date as "post-vintage thoroughbreds". -- Mike Stevens narrowboat Felis Catus III web site www.mike-stevens.co.uk No man is an island. So is Man. >> 'Vintage' literaly means 'of a certain year'. A vintage botlle of >> wine can be from 1806 or 2006. Age does not come into it. However [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I don't know how old the term "bygones" is but I've never liked it > since I first heard it. Bygones in what sense? In the sense of 'bygones' like 'not really antiques, just old things'? If yes then I cant' say I'm much of a fan either. The French have the word 'brocante' for that section of the old stuff market but real antiques are something else, 'antiquités', so I suppose there is a need for an equivalent in English. Otherwise I only know this word in the phrase "let bygones be bygones" (whose antiquity I do not know). As to 'vintage' and 'veteran': Mike Stevens explains it nicely. However for 'antique', I have a vague memory that it was 103 years (or perhaps 101) that brought qualification. It was the odd figure that struck me when I heard it, a very long time ago so I may well be wrong. Anybody? >> I don't know how old the term "bygones" is but I've never liked it >> since I first heard it. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >stuff market but real antiques are something else, 'antiquités', so I >suppose there is a need for an equivalent in English. Yes - I meant the the first use above. I assume it was invented to avoid using the word "antiques". I have heard it given a wider application such as for displays of implements from days gone by. I agree that it can be quite useful. I'm not sure why I don't like it - perhaps because it sounds like a word coined by dealers to avoid breaching the Trades Descriptions Act. SignaturePhil C. >However >for 'antique', I have a vague memory that it was 103 years (or perhaps >101) that brought qualification. It was the odd figure that struck me >when I heard it, a very long time ago so I may well be wrong. Anybody? <http://www.startups.co.uk/Antique_business.YeGTzcRoS63Ijg.html> <<Ford "the definition was objects 100 years old or older or an arbitrary dateline like 1756, at one point Antique fairs would prevent dealers from exhibiting if they sold objects younger than an arbitrary dateline you now no longer have datelines at antique fairs".>> Looking more internationally. Wikipedia (so it must be true) suggests <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiques> <<The definition of antique varies from source to source, product to product and year to year. But, there are some time tested definitions of antique for you to consider... An item which is at least 75 years old and is collected or desirable due to rarity, condition, utility, or some other unique feature. Cars for example are considered antiques in the U.S. if they are older than 25 years...>> So it looks rather vague. SignaturePhil C. >> However >> for 'antique', I have a vague memory that it was 103 years (or [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > dealers from exhibiting if they sold objects younger than an arbitrary > dateline you now no longer have datelines at antique fairs".>> Thanks. I prefer this one. It was defintely at least a century among ther 'real' antique dealers wehn I was young. > Looking more internationally. Wikipedia (so it must be true) suggests > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > So it looks rather vague. I'll take the hundred (at least) arbitrary though it is. It gives a certain gravitas to the thing. It's all tosh anyway really. You like it, you want it, you buy it, thats fine, or think it is 'that old stuff' (as a US American friend once described the priceless antiques in her parents' home to me) that's fine too. > Hallo, > my native language is Dutch and I'm learning English. > Can somebody help me to give a description of: > 1) vintage clothes (mayby old-fashioned or old clothes) Ouderwetse kleren. > 2) Second-hand glass eyes. (Are it really eyes made of glass ?) Tweedehandse glazen (of prothetische) ogen. > Thanks very much, Graag gedaan. Giles |
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