Althouse: "Here’s one of the coolest airline campaigns you’ll see aimed at folks who are too impecunious to actually fly anywhere."

June 7, 2017

"Here’s one of the coolest airline campaigns you’ll see aimed at folks who are too impecunious to actually fly anywhere."

AdWeek loves this Delta Airlines thing.

27 comments:

eddie willers said...: Do you have a "I'm Too Old To Get It" tag?; 6/7/17, 6:17 PM
traditionalguy said...: But if you bring a bag for the picture, it's $25.00 for the first one and $35.00 for the second one. Carry ons don't count; 6/7/17, 6:19 PM
Floris said...: Why do something when you can pretend to do something and use a cellphone while you are pretending. It applies to so many things ...; 6/7/17, 6:19 PM
bleh said...: Impecunious? The assumption being that with enough money everyone would travel.; 6/7/17, 6:30 PM
Michael K said...: Maybe they paid for them with the refund they refused to give me after I bought the "cancel for any reason" tickets a year ago when my wife's mother was dying in Oregon. She died before we could go and they refused the refund that was promised in the ad.

They wanted me to provide the death certificate. Really.; 6/7/17, 6:36 PM
David Baker said...: impecunious: adjective

having little or no money. "a titled but impecunious family"
synonyms: penniless, poor, impoverished, indigent, insolvent, hard up, poverty-stricken, needy, destitute.

: "Here’s one of the coolest airline campaigns you’ll see aimed at folks who are too hard up to actually fly anywhere."; 6/7/17, 6:39 PM
David Baker said...: hard up:
1. informal

short of money. "I'm too hard up to buy fancy clothes"
synonyms:poor, short of money, badly off, impoverished, impecunious, in reduced circumstances, unable to make ends meet; penniless, destitute, poverty-stricken

Also; broke, strapped for cash, strapped - "this administration ignores the families that are hard up"; 6/7/17, 6:46 PM
DAN said...: Any writer who uses the word "impecunious" -- especially in the lead paragraph -- is trying to impress someone rather than to communicate. An editor on a newspaper I wrote for called that sort of thing "tap-dancing" and would read the offending passages loudly for all in the City Room to enjoy.; 6/7/17, 6:53 PM
David Baker said...: Question:

Prior to the Adweek quotation above, had anyone here ever heard of or used the word "impecunious" in speech or sentence?; 6/7/17, 6:59 PM
Paco Wové said...: The ad campaign isn't about the traveling, it's about the getting laid.; 6/7/17, 8:04 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: David Baker - Uh, yes, but then I spent a decent portion of my life working with bankers, so the topic was always simmering under the surface.; 6/7/17, 8:09 PM
Darrell said...: Prior to the Adweek quotation above, had anyone here ever heard of or used the word "impecunious" in speech or sentence?

Yes.; 6/7/17, 8:10 PM
rhhardin said...: Should have used niggardly.; 6/7/17, 8:15 PM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/7/17, 8:39 PM
traditionalguy said...: They are in a stiff competition for the hard up. It must be Trump's populism . Either that or they hired Chik Fil A's ad agency. It is cute and it reminds people of using Airline travel.

Tak Mor Tripz.; 6/7/17, 8:40 PM
The Godfather said...: As for "impecunious" I'm 74 years old so I'd say I've been familar with the word for 60 years. Its use in the article may very well have been intended to impress rather than communicate, but it's a good word and sometimes useful. Rather than call someone cheap, say that he seems to be impecunious.

"Niggardly", however, I urge that you avoid. There was a serious flap in DC some years ago when a citizen addressing a local government panel had the poor judgement to use that word. It even got in the paper (WaPo).; 6/7/17, 9:12 PM
Brian Johnson said...: Thank you for making me look up a new work Professor. I honestly appreciate the way you present information.; 6/7/17, 10:16 PM
David Baker said...: The Godfather said... ...but it's a good word and sometimes useful. Rather than call someone cheap, say that he seems to be impecunious.

Thanks. The same thought occurred to me regarding an appropriate use, but I must say that I can't recall ever coming across the word. On the other hand, when an uncommon word is used in place of a more common term, I tend to discard it. And for better or worse, I stop reading.

The key, of course, is context.

I remember reading a passage years ago that included this: "...he was standing akimbo." I immediately pictured Toshiro Mifune, sword raised ready to slash brigands - who was not the contemporary character being described in the passage.

Then I understood, while standing akimbo, why they have book burnings.; 6/8/17, 1:48 AM
Eric said...: My new, very up-to-the-moment, dictionary defines impecunious as "impoverished, usually due to poor choices in one's university course of study, to live at the standard to which one feels entitled (e.g., a barista)."; 6/8/17, 5:06 AM
Wilbur said...: I didn't find the use of "impecunious" to be noteworthy in the least. Just a dollar word titling a ten cent article.

These pictures do illustrate why I have no urge to tourist travel anywhere: "I done seen pictures of it".

When airlines want to provide a seat into which I can fit my lanky 6-2 frame, then I'll think about using them again to visit friends and relatives.; 6/8/17, 5:34 AM
Dan said...: My high school civics teacher had a favorite expression. "Alas, I find myself in the fetters of impecuniosity'. I have known the term for a long time. Is civics still taught in high schools?; 6/8/17, 6:42 AM
Jaq said...: "Impecunious" is like "superannuated," they are utterly superfluous as words except that every once in a while they are useful to really tart up a sentence if used with extreme care.; 6/8/17, 7:21 AM
Jaq said...: Any writer who uses the word "impecunious" -- especially in the lead paragraph -- is trying to impress someone rather than to communicate.

Yeah, I would say that it is most useful nowadays as a way to establish a character, the freight it carries is sort of "orthogonal" to it's actual meaning.; 6/8/17, 7:27 AM
Danno said...: Maybe Delta is mocking those millennials with their fancy iPhones who live in the expensive big city (NYC) but really can't afford it.; 6/8/17, 7:27 AM
Jaq said...: "Let's not and say we did!" - Popeye to Olive Oyl.; 6/8/17, 7:28 AM
'TreHammer said...: Seriously? The bricks might be a problem.; 6/8/17, 7:40 AM
Seeing Red said...: Delta Airlies -increasing global warming.

Except, looks like we've hit the Dalton Minimum standards. Sooo, get ready for more cold over the next _______years!; 6/8/17, 10:17 AM