Quote:

> Not to mention that it adds a degree of precision not present in the simple paid.

Well, I mean ... I'm not looking to condemn the word, however clunky it may be. But I do find this one amusing because the usage of 'paid' doesn't have a lot to do with 'postpaid' - afterall you pay *afterwards - so its a contract where the payment for services is subsequent to their utilisation. To couple 'post-' with the past tense(!) of 'to pay' for this purpose is just classic, IMO. The tense just jars with the original meaning. I do enjoy these new prefixed words though, like 'prepone'.



Wull …

The tense of the verb pay relates to the timing of the payment not the timing of the receiving of the goods or services paid for. The post/pre relates to the timing of the paying vis a vis the receiving of the goods or services. We have phone service for which we postpay, since the exact amount of the bill is dependent on the amount of service we use. We are changing to a service that allows us unlimited use and we will be prepaying since the amount of the bill is constant and therefore predictable.