22 February 2015

Cash... Johnny Cash

Look, I found a stash of Cash in the trunk of the previously owned vehicle I bought a few days ago!

Maybe this is a prize the dealer gives to people who pay him cash for a car.

Is it just me, or aren't the expressions "used car" or "second-hand car" really pejorative-sounding? In French, such a car is « une voiture d'occasion » — to my ear, « une occasion » conveys the idea of "a real find" or a stoke of luck. A happy surprise.

8 comments:

  1. Far worse than "used" or "second-hand" is...
    in my book anyhows, is...
    pre-loved!
    Sad, unloved items that need rescuing....
    is what I think users of that expression feel will sell them!
    I am mainly clothed by Oxfam and other charity shops...
    and now vide-greniers...
    what I can never find, and have to have new, are trousers...
    suffering as I do from "duck's disease"...
    as in "me bum's too near t'floor"...
    even some new troos are not a good fit...
    'tis terrible 'tis!

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    Replies
    1. And I think that it is Tesco's that have the Clubcard....
      perhaps your previous owner toured a bit in the UK in the car...
      and picked up the bargain CD there???

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    2. The plaque d'immatriculation puts the car in 36.

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    3. That doesn't stop the owner from taking a ferry, tho'...
      "does it?" he asks, remembering that as far as Indre-et-Loire is concerned...
      nobody drives for more than two hours to get here...
      apparently, any further away than that and they don't visit!!
      Rather a blinkered view, I feel...
      look at Simon & Susans' customers...
      ah, Pauline needs my soapbox...
      better give it back to her.

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  2. Ahhhhh, the fun you have with words, Ken ;)

    Whereabouts is département 36?

    I agree about the French term ...d'occasion being much more optimistic-sounding :)

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    Replies
    1. Saint-Aignan is right at the point where three départements meet: ours is the Loir-et-Cher (41 - Blois), just west and southwest is the Indre-et-Loire (37- Loches, Tours, Amboise), and just southeast is the Indre (36 -- Châteauroux, Valençay). If we drive 5 or 6 miles south or southeast, we are in either the 37 or the 36.

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  3. That CD was definitely bought in the UK supermarket, Tesco.
    How fascinating that it should end up in your new car!
    And a new car is a new car, whether you are the first owner or not, because it's new to you. I have bought many a secondhand car and they have been just as thrilling to get as any brand new car.

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    Replies
    1. It's definitely a nice new-to-me car. I'm not so much thrilled as I am stunned that it was so easy to find a good car like this one seems to be for such a good price.

      Our driving distances are so minimal these days and our driving style is so old-codgerish that a brand new car would be a pure extravagance. I'm just hoping that the C4 will be reliable. It is certainly comfortable and good-looking. The dealer who sold it told me that the previous owners traded it in because they had several children, including a recent set of twins. They bought a seven-passenger van -- a Logan. I wonder if it is true...

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