Abuse of the word “free”

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

I had some free love in the 60s, been paying for it ever since!

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

I saw some Cruise adverts over Christmas. When you buy the holiday they 'give' you £300 to spend on board and stuff like that. Who the hell falls for that crap!!

When I see a reduced price, I think to myself, they must still be making a profit on that; so when it was the higher price they were stitching me up. I walk away and won't give them my business (well sometimes!)

And what is it with this £1.99, £2.99 malarkey.

And car fuel, at 135.9 pence per litre. It's 1.36 for christs sake!

Stupid advertisers.

Steve (now with high blood pressure)

[SpurryParticipant @spurry]

Posted by Steven Vine on 31/01/2016 17:55:44:

And car fuel, at 135.9 pence per litre. It's 1.36 for christs sake!

Stupid advertisers.

Best you don't work out how much it is per gallon then. Watch the blood pressure.

Pete

[norman valentineParticipant @normanvalentine78682]

Pete, are you referring to "proper" gallons or U.S. gallons?

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

You mean there are "other" kinds of gallons!

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by mark costello 1 on 31/01/2016 20:14:50:

You mean there are "other" kinds of gallons!

'Fraid so.

The Yanks have smaller everything [ except waist sizes ], it then means they can then brag.

Building never have ground floors so they are always one story taller.

Trucks are never in tonnes or tons, always pounds and short pounds at that so instead of having a 32 tonne truck they have one with a gross load of 457,935,270,377 pounds [ approx ]

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

I think you will find that the Gallon (US) is the same as an Old English Wine gallon.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Their trucks do have a certain amount of presence.

I drove one of these several times around 15 or so years ago. Brand new and very similar. The only truck I have ever been in where the passenger seat seemed to be an extra. Some sort of steel box instead. It had the worst gear box I have ever used. Clutch travel was enormous too. All in all the only good thing was the air suspension and the looks but it still needed air suspended seats.

John

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[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I have read up to 100% of this thread absolutely free – not dependent on buying a magazine, or was that influencing my subscription?

Petrol 99.7/litre in Asda this morning and with the following wind I was getting 63mpg instead of 52 aginst the wind on Thursday. Is that 11 free mpg?

If I don't pay for a TV licence (and don't watch TV) is my radio listening free? Perhaps I am in fact in the black as the BBC keep sending me fire lighting material.

Edited By Bazyle on 01/02/2016 14:31:20

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Listening to the radio doesn't require a licence. If you had a radio, but not a television, until 1971 you had to pay for a radio licence. These days, you don't need a licence to listen to the radio (including BBC stations). This applies however you listen, even if you listen using television equipment.

…apparently

I can see the TV licence being funded out of general taxation in the next decade

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

But BBC radio is funded by the TV licence so if you don't have one you are getting it free.

Radio control used to need a licence too in the uk. ditto Citizen's Band so they are both free now. Kind of amazing they didn't privatise the frequencies so some shark could make a killing out of us.

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

Does a 'freebie' from a hooker count.?

Nick

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Posted by John Stevenson on 31/01/2016 20:31:11:

Posted by mark costello 1 on 31/01/2016 20:14:50:

You mean there are "other" kinds of gallons!

'Fraid so.

The Yanks have smaller everything [ except waist sizes ], it then means they can then brag.

Building never have ground floors so they are always one story taller.

Trucks are never in tonnes or tons, always pounds and short pounds at that so instead of having a 32 tonne truck they have one with a gross load of 457,935,270,377 pounds [ approx ]

Funny thing is, their trousers are bigger. If you buy a pair of jeans with the same nominal waist size you are used to in the UK, they will be 2" bigger than you need. Mercans like to flatter themselves.

Edited By Muzzer on 01/02/2016 15:29:09

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Posted by Bazyle on 01/02/2016 15:08:02:

But BBC radio is funded by the TV licence so if you don't have one you are getting it free.

Radio control used to need a licence too in the uk. ditto Citizen's Band so they are both free now. Kind of amazing they didn't privatise the frequencies so some shark could make a killing out of us.

I think you'll find that both Channel 4 and BBC are on the path to privatisation already….

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

Posted by Bazyle on 01/02/2016 13:53:35:……

….

If I don't pay for a TV licence (and don't watch TV) is my radio listening free? Perhaps I am in fact in the black as the BBC keep sending me fire lighting material.

Edited By Bazyle on 01/02/2016 14:31:20

Was your radio built out of 'free' scrap and run on a home 'scrap' built solar/wind/water genny?

Even thought isn't free… needs some sort of fuel and constantly being bombarded with politican and consumer propaganda..

Rain is pretty cheap here in Wales..

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Petrol ("gas&quot is 37.5p (equiv) in Canada.

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Steven vine posted " And what is it with this £1.99, £2.99 malarkey. " The .99 ( it used to be !/2d ) was so that the cashier had to open the cash register to give change So they couldn't just pocket your cash

Roy

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Posted by KWIL on 01/02/2016 16:08:21:

Petrol ("gas" is 37.5p (equiv) in Canada.

Not when I lived there (last year). Was the same price in dollars as pounds ie $1.30-1.40 per litre. But that still makes it half price now that the dollar has gone from $1.60 to $2.00 to the pound since we left. That means you can run a 3.5 litre SUV for the same cost as a 2 litre car here, which we did of course…..

Edited By Muzzer on 01/02/2016 17:21:09

[Enough!Participant @enough]

Posted by KWIL on 01/02/2016 16:08:21:

Petrol ( "gas" ) is 37.5p (equiv) in Canada.

Dunno where that number comes from, Kwil. Certainly not around here (Southern Ontario which is pretty much average for Canada).

These prices are the cheapest we've had in years.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Was your radio built out of 'free' scrap and run on a home 'scrap' built solar/wind/water genny?

Within the context of this thread it is free as in not being marketed as something I have t pay for. However if the BBC said " buy our TV licence and we throw in Radio as a free extra " then it would be a con in the context of the thread as you are paying for it. Also if it gets funded by my taxes in future then also it ceases to be free.

We have had rather a lot of free wind in Devon in the last few days too. Had to come to work to get 'free' broadband.

[SpurryParticipant @spurry]

Posted by Bazyle on 01/02/2016 15:08:02:

Radio control used to need a licence too in the uk. ditto Citizen's Band so they are both free now. Kind of amazing they didn't privatise the frequencies so some shark could make a killing out of us.

Don't put ideas their way! With radio and tv you do actually get something for the licence fee. Whether it is worth the charge is a matter of opinion.

With model radio gear, ditto CB, you got *nothing* for the fee. You paid for your own transmitter and your own receiver, so there never was any justification for making you pay.

Pete

Edited By Spurry on 01/02/2016 18:56:45

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Interesting statistic on TV. When video recorders were popular the largest uptake on a household basis was the UK by a large margin. Thought to be down to the fact that we "did" get TV worth recording. All thought to be down to the BBC.Others had to compete.

Having tried to watch Swedish free TV I can see why but then the BBC is cheap really rather than free.

Interesting comment from some American TV person. "Once Brit's went to the USA for ideas for cheap TV, now it's often the other way round"

John

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[Nigel BennettParticipant @nigelbennett69913]

Free Range eggs? They all seem to be priced…

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

Does a 'freebie' from a hooker count.?

Nick

I've no idea, Nick – I haven't played rugby since I left school.

George

[the artfull-codgerParticipant @theartfull-codger]

What about the window firms? you buy one you get one free ie 50% off plus free fitting, what a load of crap you can't sell your product at 1/2 price then fit it free, it's economic suicide UNLESS it's a trumped up price to begin with, also "we'll beat any quote for the same spec product" well of course they can because they'll have a section or fitting to that's exclusive to them, adverts are just a massive con. Insurance for the over 50s? peace of mind?,do they seriously think I'm going to pay out of my pocket every month so my kids can have a bean feast when I croak,I don't think so,they've had plenty out of me allready, my "piece of mind" is not wasting money on insurance so others can have it.

There I've had my moan for the week.

[Author]

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