Monster Pal's #1 Now Available!!!

[mike c]

English geek mode on:

Then they should say Painted Pre-Sale, not Pre-Painted. (Again, the box this thread referred to before I derailed it, correctly avoided using 'pre').
Pre means before, sure. And if pre means before, then saying it is pre-painted equates to 'before painted', which means not painted yet. Pre-painted, then, means the opposite of painted.
'Before' didn't mean 'already' in the way most people use 'pre' for things these days; a thing can't be done before it's done, such as a preheated oven (it's either heated or it's not) or prerecorded tape (it's either recorded or it's not). We all use those terms all the time, and there's nothing wrong with them but they're simply not correct.
If a package of sliced cheese says 'pre-sliced', it's just incorrect. It's been sliced, not pre-anything.
One could argue, 'but it was sliced before it was packaged, or before I bought it, so it was pre-sliced.." but that's still problematic because of course it was done before. Using that logic, we could simply mark everything 'pre-made'... and even then it would still be incorrect because it wasn't pre-made, it was simply made.
The manner in which pre is used today is at best merely adding redundant or erroneous description (similar to 'continue on', 'open up', 'seek out', phrases we all use often but are not correct). At worst, it means the exact opposite of what one intended.

English geek mode off:
 
Like I said 'before' ('pre' this post, haha!) , I only meant to get a chuckle over how quirky the language is.

Mike C.

[Mike Scott]

Preview? How can you view something before you view it?

Preschool? Isn't that just school?

Precaution? Isn't that just caution?

Predict? How do you say something before you say it?

Precede? It occured before it occured?

Prepare? Make it before you make it?

Prefix? How do you fix something before it's broken?

[mike c]

You're awesome! 

Prefix has nothing to do with fixing anything broken, but affixing a word part to the front of another, hence the term pre-fix AND conveniently a great example for this discussion.

Preschool began as a sort of adjective in the early 20th century and used to mean 'this child is preschool', meaning 'not in or ready for school yet'. Some even used it as a verb 'We have pre-schooled our child', but this was thought of as incorrect even then. In the '30s it became a noun, an actual name for a schooling system, and therefore incorrect, but it's a legal term now. Again, no biggie, but it's illogical... like much of the English language of the last few centuries.

Preview is from the early 1600's and is indeed a simple mash up of pre+view, its original meaning 'to foretaste' or 'know beforehand' (pre meaning before, as we've both said), but it did not mean literal viewing before viewing, nor did it mean view before release which is a modern construct from the early 20's. It's still not totally logical, but there ya go. Long term usage wins.

The rest of your list is similar in that the etymology of those words is generally different (subtly but meaningfully) in original meaning than in current usage. Like predict; 'to say before knowing' is NOT the same thing as 'saying something before you say it', and so on.

I've never said there weren't correct and acceptable uses of the prefix 'pre' in the language. I only say that how 'pre' is being applied in the examples I pointed out is not correct, and sometimes the logic behind such usage is fallacious.

But hey... I misuse and abuse the language enthusiastically, and with some of these very terms quite often, so I wasn't getting down on anyone; I enjoy wordplay and the seemingly inherent broken logic of our language (the same language that has flammable meaning the same thing as inflammable!).

Mike C.

[Mike Scott]

Prefix has nothing to do with fixing anything broken . . .

Those were supposed to be funny. Guess I'm no Henny Youngman?

[mike c]

Oh no Mike, I knew it was in humor, which is why I began with how awesome I thought you were for listing them!
I know very well you know that 'prefix' doesn't mean repairing, I see I am also no Henny Youngman. Hell, I'm not even Don Wilson.
But then being the language geek I am, I had to deconstruct because, as I wrote, I love wordplay.

All in trivial fun!

Mike C.

OH and since I am the one who completely derailed the thread, allow me to attempt to get it back on track...
And when is Monster Pals #2 coming out?

[Karloff39]

I love the CREATURE but have they released a FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER? If so - Anybody have pics?

[kreaturekid]

hahahaa sorry for the confusion! i'v always said pre-painted, when talking about something that's already painted. i guess that's what i get for not paying attention in high school lol. there will be a frankenstein eventually, #2 is the mole man and #3 is the war of the worlds martion, at this rate it looks like one will be out every year.

[artistguy]

Adam,

The monster pals are awesome! Great paint job too!!!! I can't wait to see #2, #3, #4, ....#100!

[JMichaelRoddy]

My Monster Pal arrived an I must say... It is awesome. The sculpt, paint and size combine for a perfect Creature collectible. He will stand here on my desk and watch over me as I type into the wee hours of the night. Thank You!