Pre-made

"PRE MADE BOXES" reads the sign before a wicker picnic basket, a holiday gift suggestion in a Pier 1 store. I won't quibble that a basket is not a box, as a cat is not a dog. (Comment if you recognize that one.) However, the prefix "pre" denotes a priority of time, place, or rank. See dictionary.com for Webster's definition. I am joining Lynne Truss' Stickler to the Grammar Goddess Diane Sandford. Excuse me whilst I step into this phone booth and emerge as The Grammar Stickler! Dressed in a brown catsuit, orange cape, and armed with the sharp stick of public ridicule, The Grammar Stickler pokes fun at misused words. A box of gifts cannot be "pre" made, not only because "made" is the past tense of a verb (How can an action take place before the past? Was it incipient in the Big Bang?) but also because the verb "to make" indicates preparation. If you PREpare, then there is nothing to do before or above that action. The Grammar Stickler sighs, "If only they'd think of synonyms instead of stopping at the first convenient verb to trip off their stunted tongues: make, prepare--oops!"

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