Question of the Day #52

"Where are you taking me shopping?"

"There's this great place that has great deals on seconds."

上記の文で、secondsの意味は？
In the dialogue above, what does "seconds" mean?

答えは、コメントに書いてください。
Write your answer in the Comments.

明日、ここに答えを書きます。
I will add the answer and other remarks here tomorrow.

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解答

意味： The Free Dictionaryによると、この場合の意味は、


"An article of merchandise of inferior quality."なので、

アウトレット等で販売される「B級品」になる。

factory secondsとも言う。ただし、この場合は、「展示品」や「返品された商品」も含まれることがある。

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

An article of merchandise of inferior quality.
Also called "factory seconds," but in this case the definition can include all of the following:

• The product may have a minor cosmetic blemish on the exterior of the product, as a result this product cannot be sold as a new product, even though the product is in full working order.
• The products in this category may have been used as Display Units.
• Some of these products may have been returned by the customer under a 7-day or 10-day return scheme.

Etymology/語源

Online Etymology Dictionaryによると、

この使い方は、1600年頃のシェークスピアのソネットから。（もっと詳しくは、下記英文説明参照。）

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary:

"articles below the first quality," c. 1600, plural of second (n.) "that which is after the first" (early 14c.), from second (adj.); originally attested in this sense in a Shakespeare sonnet.

Examples

• It was marked as seconds, but I can't find anything wrong with it.
• Outlets started out by selling seconds and older product lines, but now many of them sell goods made especially for them.