Existing or Pre-existing?

Suppose you’ve had diabetes for three years, and you want to switch to another health insurance policy. Do you have an “existing condition” or a “pre-existing” condition?

They’re the same thing.

I hate pre-anything. Well, most of the time. You can make a case for “preview” and “pre-publication” and similar words and expressions.

But yesterday – I am not making this up – I heard someone on the radio say she was “pre-preparing” for an event.

And of course there’s pre-plan, pre-register, pre-arrange. What, pray tell, is the difference between registering for an event and “pre-registering” for it?

None.

I’m going to have a nervous breakdown this election season from hearing “pre-existing” thousands of times on news shows about the candidates.

I have two requests for you: Be ruthless about eliminating “pre” from your conversation, and make sure you’re ready to vote in November.

Today’s Quiz ANSWER

Today’s sentence is incorrect. Use a comma (not a period) when a sentence begins with an extra idea:

Although the movie was too long, I’d like to see it again. CORRECT

To learn three easy comma rules, click here.

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