--LESS

[Ladyazh]

Correct me if I am wrong. Isn't --less means 'without'?
I saw "Payless Cleaners" sign and assumed it is a free of charge dry cleaning business. However it was a regular one.
So I was asked to pay. And I said 'but...it says "payless"'.
And they said 'oh, it is PAY Less as discounted price' and I am still confused and hurt.
Sleeveless means without sleeves.
Brainless - without a brain.
Shouldn't 'payless' be 'without a pay'???

(this story was made up by the author due to a real confusion with a sign on a dry cleaning facility for illustrative purposes).

 

[MeGustaXL]

I think it depends on the spelling on the sign:

Pay-Less: No need to pay so much = Cheaper

PayLess: No need to pay so much = Cheaper

Payless: We work here but don't get paid, so don't expect even the basic courtesies.

Compare with Priceless, which doesn't mean "Free of Charge"; it just means a load of pretentious old twaddle and tat piled together in the name of 'Art'

Chris

I must only use this power to annoy! - Bart Simpson, aka Stretch Dude

 

[Ladyazh]

Payless was the spelling, this is why I questioned.

I thought about Priceless.
Would that follow the same schema as you showed above
Price-Less, PriceLess or Priceless??? And what about Mona Lisa?

 

[MeGustaXL]

And what about Mona Lisa?

Exactly. The prosecution rests.

As for the other variations, I've seen a store in Pristina called PriceLess, which sold canned food at a discount, but it doesn't necessarily follow that "--" + "less" means "Without --".
I think you'll find that it only works that way if "--" is a noun, as in Brain, Head, Sleeve or, in the case of the Mona Lisa, Point.

Chris

I must only use this power to annoy! - Bart Simpson, aka Stretch Dude

 

[Ladyazh]

Got It! Noun is the rule! Thanks
I do not get your feelings about Mona Lisa though

 

[drlex]

I remember seeing a segment on a humourous television show where one of the presenters went into a convenience store and helped himself to part of the food on display, arguing that he was merely consuming the part marked '20% free' and so didn't need to pay.

Now have fun considering the meaning of "self-__" signs; your self-cleaning oven makes life simple, but you won't get very far sitting in the passenger seat of a van from the 'self-drive van rental' place.

soi la, soi carré

 

[gbaughma]

<Singing to Schoolhouse Rock>
A noun is a person, place or thing... do do do de do....
</singing>



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly exchanged his dilithium crystals for new Folger's Crystals." -- My Sister
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[p5wizard]

> but you won't get very far sitting in the passenger seat of a van from the 'self-drive van rental' place.

...or standing aside with arms crossed, after swiping your credit card at a self-service gas station pump and waiting for the nozzle to automagically find its way to your car's gas-tank.

(true story)

p5wizard

 

[SilentAiche]

your self-cleaning oven makes life simple

I have one of those so-called "self cleaning" ovens.

So far, it hasn't.

Grampa might not get a "wrinkle-free" shirt this Christmas, after all.

Tim

[gray] heck, at his age, he shouldn't have to pay for 'em! [/gray]

[blue]
___________________________________________________________________________
Praises for Barbecue should only be spoken in Pig-Latin. That whole dead language thing... (or dead pig thing); whatever, pass the slaw-ter-me...[/blue]

 

[Ladyazh]

Self-cleaning ovens do exists but you can only know if you survived (suffocation) during self-cleaning process.