A Word on the Words: Bartering is not the same as haggling

WHEN you make a big purchase, such as a house or a car, you should haggle.

To haggle is to dispute a price, negotiate, or strike a bargain. Doing it might save you money (which is always a good thing).

What you can’t do, unless in exceptional circumstances, is barter for your new house or car.

Barter is the exchange of goods or services for other goods or services.

You could, I suppose, offer an estate agent some magic beans in exchange for a house. The salesman will probably be somewhat surprised by this proposal, but you will, at least, be using the word “barter” correctly.

It is saddening how many people appear to think that “to barter” means “to haggle”.

Haggling might be involved – is my Ford Zodiac worth two axe heads and a blanket? Or must I throw in an extra few bits of wampum?

But the point is that “barter”, by definition, means no money changes hands.

This is, I fear, another example of the language changing – and changing for the worse.

Soon, because so many people misuse “barter”, the dictionary definition will change. We will have bartered away the correct meaning of another word.