Drop the condescending TOY label please.

I've grown to hate the word toy using in relation to megabucks cameras. I know toys for the boys and all that can include Ferrari and Lagonda but …

Why not try using the work 'treat' instead of the condescending sounding 'toy'


By too far an amount it just seems to be showing the bitterness, jealousy and envy of the poster who replies "Congrats on your new toy!" "Is that going to be making a living or is it just a new toy!"


I feel it is one of the biggest put downs on the internet and I know some of you use it deliberately as such.


So how about banning the word toy in relation to the new purchase of a digital camera, anyone agree?

Are you toying around with me?
You need to go on B&H and buy youself a new toy, and I mean that in the best possible way!

Well, just about the only time I thought 'toy' was a condescending word was when a woman remarked about a man being her 'boy toy'.

I've never used the word 'toy' in a condescending manner, and intentionally. But I'd admit that my cameras and lenses are definitely toys. Until this hobby starts making money for me, their cost is entirely unjustified and they are just...you know, toys.

nope, I love my toys.

Well, um.... it really is a treat to get a new toy now and then!

-Douglas- wrote in post #7709226
Well, um.... it really is a treat to get a new toy now and then!

Yes it is.

i personally have never taken the phrase "Congrats on your new toy!" as a putdown. as a member of the male side of the species, i'm designed to like new toys..... whether it's new tools, new hunting gear, new computer gear or gadgetry, etc, and i've always seen the phrase as kind of a "yeah, we're men, we like toys, and you got a new one, enjoy!", but that's just me.

now if a member of the female side of the species were to say such a thing to me, well THEN i'd consider it a putdown.

JUST KIDDING!

I refer to it as my stuff.

My Brother says it's my toys.

No one tells my Brother what to say.

So, it's my toys.

I don't think toy is condescending at all. You play with a toy as a child and you play with a camera as an adult and every adult loves looking back on their childhood so calling it a toy is just saying that it's something you love.

at the comment below me!

My wife calls my camera "she" or "her". As in, "Oh, what is SHE doing here???" Or, "Oh, I see you brought HER along..." Man I love her though...pretty fond of my wife as well.

he who dies with the most toys, wins.!!!


The only time I've referred to camera gear as a toy was when comparing the "feel" of a 5D (which is an awesome picture taking machine) compared to the build quality of a 1 Series.

me

A "treat" is something you give the cat or dog. A "toy" is what you give yourself. More toys, please!

Interestingly the Atlantic divide does not seem to be so taken with the toy description, in fact it seems to be an honourable mention.

My toys are things I like, that I don't need, things for entertainment and fun. However, I'll describe an under performing item as being a toy. I could say something like "Don't buy the Olympus, it's just a toy, if you want the real thing it has to be a Nikon or Canon!"

So, I think you see where I've come from now, yes we consider our things toys too, but we don't call or refer to them as such in conversation or praise

GerBee wrote in post #7725871
Interestingly the Atlantic divide does not seem to be so taken with the toy description, in fact it seems to be an honourable mention.

I think it was Winston Churchill who said that the US and UK are two great nations divided by a common language. (Yes, I know Ireland isn't the UK, but the same principle applies!)

I'm in the UK and I've never had a problem with the term in relation to my camera gear. My wife's convinced they're toys anyway!

cheers