"custom!"

[deadin]

My normal answer to some one trying to sell me a "custom" gun (i.e. "Those custom grips are worth a $100 or that "custom" whatever adds so much to the value") is "Well take them off and lower the price by that much."

 

[Sam1911]

Sure we can look ANYTHING up in the dictionary and use it the way it were intended.

Bwaaahahahaaa! Quote of the day! Yeah, why use the word for what it MEANS?

Good one!



When used in advertising something for sale, "custom" doesn't mean "custom." It means "custom." When you're putting it together for yourself, though, its meaning is slightly different: More like, "CUStom." Now, if you bought it from the factory that way, built to your specs, it actually means "CUSTOM." But if someone else owns it and is trying to sell it to you, that's really more like, "cusTOM."

Really, just totally different.

 

[Jackal]

actually, that's exactly what makes it 'custom'. the dictionary is your friend.

The dictionary is full of literal definitions that have very different meanings in the real world, in common use.

 

[silicosys4]

The dictionary is full of literal definitions that have very different meanings in the real world, in common use.

The world is full of uneducated people who don't know enough to call each other on their uneducated BS.

Just look at how Google tried to change the definition of the word "literallY" to coincide with the massive INCORRECT useage by retarded teenyboppers....That didn't go over well.

 

[Jackal]

I think what we are getting at here is the fact that the term "custom" is often incorrectly used to imply "better" from a marketing standpoint.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Bwaaahahahaaa! Quote of the day! Yeah, why use the word for what it MEANS?

Good one!



When used in advertising something for sale, "custom" doesn't mean "custom." It means "custom." When you're putting it together for yourself, though, its meaning is slightly different: More like, "CUStom." Now, if you bought it from the factory that way, built to your specs, it actually means "CUSTOM." But if someone else owns it and is trying to sell it to you, that's really more like, "cusTOM."

Really, just totally different.

Heh, You know what I meant Sam!

 

[danez71]

Unless you started bt mining the ore from the earth..... it's not custom.

I think thats what the custom car guys determined after debating it to the Nth degree

 

[Lord Teapot]

Unless you started bt mining the ore from the earth..... it's not custom.

I think thats what the custom car guys determined after debating it to the Nth degree

well by that logic nothing is custom, since no one who works at any of the part production factories, also mines the ore from the earth.

 

[hamp sandwich]

To me, it simply means that it has been changed from the factory production model. It may be that something was removed, added and/or reconfigured before or after it left the assembly line. Almost always, it cost a little extra to do, but rarely does it add value to most people, regardless of who did the customization. This applies to nearly any product.

 

[sawdeanz]

I sympathize with the OP since I (and I'm sure many others here) come across this all the time on online trading forums and pages. You finally find the gun you want or are interested in but its overpriced. Title says customized so you say maybe it will be a really sweet deal afterall only to find that the "customized" gun is just a bunch of useless tapco furniture and a walmart red dot.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Yep Ive got a bunch of custom scratches I put on my truck gun... Im going to ask retail + 50 for it!

 

[Lord Teapot]

do the custom scratches come with custom rust, i've got some incredible rusting patterns on an old savage 12ga i bought for $50.

 

[Sam1911]

Is it "custom" or just modified?

Is it "vintage" or just old and beat up?

Is it "budget/value" or just cheap junk?

Is it "synthetic polymer" or just plastic?

Is it "rare" or just a product failure?

Is it "curvy," "Reubenesque,"or just fat?

Words mean things but they overlap greatly. Your ideas of what it means don't actually invalidate someone else's meaning.

 

[taliv]

The reason is because the word "custom" from an advertizing standpoint means something. Sure we can look ANYTHING up in the dictionary and use it the way it were intended. But when offering a product, the word custom has always intrinsically meant something else. Something you cant get just anywhere.

no. the word "custom" from from an advertizing standpoint means nothing. if they misuse the word, the world can call into question their education and upbringing. that's no reason for you to assume they've successfully redefined the term.

because 'custom' means built to your spec, it almost always refers to a product. (or service)

 

[LemmyCaution]

Customized/Custom
Altered
Modified
Bubba'd
Non-stock
Non-standard
Deviant
Not-to-spec
Chopped
etc.
etc.

Sam-

You forgot to add "In accordance with Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act" to your list.

Face it. Nothing 'means' anything in English. We're not prescriptivists. We're descriptivists.

The only thing that means anything in English is 'caveat emptor,' and that's not even English.

 

[Nwflycaster]

Well, I have 6 BR custom in my signature. I call it custom because the stock was specially built by Master Class Stocks to fit my length for the trigger pull and also my hand dimensions. The rest is standard off the shelf parts that were assembled to fit my personal criteria. It's worth the extra $$ to me to have a perfect fit, but it wouldn't benefit anybody else unless they had the same physical measurements as I do. I know I'd never be able to ask extra money for the customization, but I also know it will never be for sale so I don't care.

To me personally, custom doesn't necessarily mean improved or better, just modified in a way that's not factory. It's up to the owner and buyer to decide if the modification is an improvement or detraction.

 

[Jackal]

Bolting on new factory made parts, to me, does not constitute "custom". I perceive "custom" as something thats been fabricated/made/remade in a one-off manner, by a skilled hand.

 

[redneck2]

If I worked on it, it's custom.

If somebody else did it, it's
Altered
Modified
Bubba'd
Non-stock
Non-standard
Deviant
Not-to-spec
Chopped
etc.
etc.

 

[ironworkerwill]

So we should assume that custom is nothing less than an arm made by a custom shoppe. Work done by a skilled person at an unnamed shoppe is an alteration. Lastly, anything Joe'd at home is merely a hack. Will the described work refer to cosmetic alterations or shall it include performance features?

I suppose we should come up with some very concise verbiage to describe work done to a platform and by whom.

 

[Sam1911]

Will, you're absolutely right, and the wise consumer always knows to take the time to figure out precisely what's being described.

Heck, I've got a v8!



Yeah...but it is a 283, or a 454, or a 572 ZZ620? Better make sure which you're getting.

Did you chop and channel that hot-rod, or just paint a couple of pinstripes on the Chevette?

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

I posted my thoughts above concerning my guns. But another post concerning grips on a pistol prompts this. I've sold (very few) guns, but one did have accessory grips on it. Which I did point out to a prospective buyer. He gave me more-or-less the same thing; what did they cost/take 'em off & put the originals back on. To which I replied that the original grips were long gone, either take the gun as is at this price, or stop wasting my time. I sold it to somebody else a few days later.

900F

 

[DHJenkins]

And here I thought trying to twist or "customize" definitions to suit one's own needs was a liberal tactic...

 

[Sheepdog1968]

To me, the word custom means something that has been done to it by someone. I need more details to know if it is a positive or negative. Usually I see it as a negative if I am buying something used as I prefer things stock as they came from the factory. I am the same way about used cars.

If it is someone who is just showing me their customized firearm, I am usually curious what they did and why. In this case it is something I am positive about. If changing something makes someone happy I a happy for them (reliability of a defensive firearm is a potential caveat but unless it is a close friend or family I would likely still keep my mouth shut).

 

[chicharrones]

I prefer to use the terms "modified", "altered", "butchered" or "ruined" when talking about work I've done on guns.

Modified is my preferred term for "custom" work I've done myself. Those other words can be avoided by using a trash can or optimum camera angles.

 

[chicharrones]

Unless you started bt mining the ore from the earth..... it's not custom.

That sounds organic and artisanal.