Quote Originally Posted by Rdenney View Post
If I'm having a dinner party, and pull out a bottle of wine to serve, and suggest, "Let's try some of this vintage Bordeaux," most of my guests will assume I'm using the word "vintage" because the wine was laid down in a good year. Which, for any decent Bordeaux, wouldn't be last year or this year, even if the bottle has this or last year printed on the label. And if it wasn't decent Bordeaux, I should not have presented the bottle accompanied by the word "vintage", because of the expectations it will generate. Right?

If someone asks, "what's the vintage of that Bordeaux?" then your meaning will be the natural assumption. But that's not how we use "vintage" with watches. I might say, "look at this vintage watch," and my listener will assume the watch represents some period of the past distinct from our own in ways relevant to why I'm describing it as "vintage". If he wants to know what year it was made, he'll ask, "What year was it made?" or "How old is it?"

I'm going by what most people think the word means without trying to be arbitrary about dates or periods, and without using a dictionary. Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive, but this is sort-of a specialized application even when talking to non-enthusiasts.

Rick "thinking this works with cars, too" Denney
The scoffing would start, if any one I knew had to listen to my description of a vintage watch; maybe not so for a description of a vintage wine.

John