Comments on: Quandary: New, Improved Recipe

By: JD

JD — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:28:00 +0000

Ah, just a thought. Is it OK to say “my new boss is an improvement on my old boss”? If so, I guess my boss is both “new and an improvement” – as close as I can get!

By: JD

JD — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:23:00 +0000

Yes, 'new product launch' isn't a contradiction, but it is often a tautology. In other words, it is difficult to have an 'old product launch'. Anyway, sorry to sidetrack!

If I take one thing and change it slightly, do I have a new thing or a modified version of the old thing? When does something become 'new'? How different does it have to be to become 'new' as opposed to 'improved'?

On another note: if Mars introduced a totally new recipe for Snickers bars, for example, you would have a new recipe but not a totally new product (the recipe is only one element of the product - others being the name, packaging, brand image, price etc). So in that sense Snickers would be both 'new and improved'.

OK, this is tenuous... and yes I have just gone to press so have time to witter...

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:41:00 +0000

‘New product launches’; I’m ok with this. You have a new product, and then you launch it.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:40:00 +0000

I would agree, jd, except for the fact that by definition ‘new’ means that it can’t be related to the ‘old’. If it is related it’s just improved.What I think we’re seeing here is the persistence of brand (or product) meeting the implementation and causing this semantic issue; my product is ‘the same’, hence improved, but the means used to arrive at the end product are, in some sense, new.

By: JD

JD — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:24:00 +0000

I have an issue with ‘new product launches’ – after all, if a product is just being launched, it’s fair to assume it’s new. Unless it’s just improved, of course.Seriously, I suppose ‘new and improved’ means ‘it’s a new recipe which is also an improvement on the old recipe’ – after all, just because it’s new doesn’t automatically mean it’s better than the thing it’s replacing.

By: Gez

Gez — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:23:00 +0000

I think ‘new AND improved’ would be worse. It’s either new, or it’s improved. I suppose the correct phrase would be ‘newly improved’.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:59:00 +0000

It's an interesting one alright. Do you think 'New AND Improved' would work better?

I'm going to write a longer entry about the language of public transport at some point, as I have a tenuously similar problem with the phrase 'personal belongings' as heard when alighting a train (de-training for our American friends).

Are not belongings by their very nature 'personal'? Should it not be 'personal items' or merely 'your belongings'?

Nice to see you back Paul, by the way.

By: Blue

Blue — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:00:00 +0000

I have seen this phrase many times and have thought the same as you, but I can see your arguments.