Traditional watch - the street version

The misuse of the word "traditional" isn't limited to the beer world. Elsewhere it's also used with the very vague meaning of "sometime in the last few hundred years".

I was shocked to hear it used in this particular context: a BBC TV report about replacing the street lights in Sheffield. The reporter said that LED lights were going to replace the traditional orange street lights.

Traditional? Street lights can be traditional? Wouldn't a traditional street light be a gas one?

It's probably my age that makes me baulk at this usage. Because I can remember those sodium lamps appearing. I can even remember the very first time I encountered them. It was in Sunderland, probably about 1968 or 1969. They were introduced even later than that in Newark. Not much more than 40 years ago.

Here's a phiosophical question. How long does a practice or an object have to have been around before it becomes traditional?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20308297

Traditional Watch II

I've found another good use of the word "traditional" to hide the author's total lack of historical knowledge. This is taken from an All About Beer article on Modern IPA, written by Rob Haiber.

"Right. India pale ales, commonly called IPAs, are a group with great pedigree and historic roots. By now, most beer lovers have heard about how traditional IPAs were brewed strong and extremely hoppy to survive long voyages to distant, God-forsaken heathen lands of the British Empire (and a rather large former colony), so let’s skip the rest of the history lesson and dive straight into the deep end.

. . . .

The closest thing to traditional British IPAs can now be found in North America. Good for Yanks, bad for Brits. North American craft brewers more closely adhere to early specification than do British brewers who, as a group, do not. That IPAs now thoroughly dominate this style has been acknowledged, in writing and in personal conversations, by practically every British beer judge, writer, and others thought expert in the field.

. . . .

Give me a break--3.5 percent ABV IPAs? That doesn’t even qualify as a bog-standard bitter. It’s enough to make a grown man cry--or scream. Have those brewers gone mad? Either they are ignorant of what an IPA really is, or their trying to pull a fast one on consumers. I think it’s getting near time to call in government investigators, as labeling a 3.5 percent ale an IPA crosses the line of consumer fraud. Slapping on a label with the words IPA on it does not make the beer an IPA."
http://www.allaboutbeer.com/style/modern_ipa.html

Let's start with the first paragraph. "Traditional British IPAs" - what exactly are these? When were they brewed? 1830? 1880? 1920? He doesn't specify, making the whole paragraph totally meaningless. And does he mean Burton or London IPA, two very different things? I think it's been well-established that IPA's were not strong beers by the standards of the day.

Closest thing to a "traditional British IPA" is found in the USA? Bollocks. And which tradition does he mean? Greene King IPA is a perfect example of a low-gravity London-type IPA. A type of beer that has been brewed for 100 years or so. No, that's not "traditional;" because it's not what modern Americans think IPA should be. Anyone who thinks modern American IPA's resemble British IPAs of the 1840's knows nothing.

The last paragraph just demonstrates the author's total ignorance of beer history. What's he saying? "Greene King, don't dare call your beer IPA, even though you've brewed it for a century. We Americans decide what can and can't be called IPA." Arrogant twat.

Traditional watch

Look, I know my work is littered with examples. Pot, black, kettle, etc. I'm a reformed man. But I haven't had chance to correct my past writings yet.

Traditional. A word as vague as it is handy. It covers any period more than 20 years in the past. Or earlier than you can remember. About as precise as that. Don't know any exact dates? Just use "traditional" instead.

Now I've realised that, every time I see the word it jumps off the page (or the screen). That gives me an idea, why don't I post the most flagrant and gratuitous uses of the word "traditional"? I could make it a regular feature of the blog.

Before you ask, this isn't an innovation. Private Eye have been doing something similar for years.

For no particular reason other than I just stumbled across them, here's a couple of outstanding examples of how to obscure history by the use of "traditionally" from Charlie Papazian:

"Contrary to popular belief the original Guinness draft stout is not strong ale; it’s no more than about 3.8% alcohol, even today. The bottled stout labeled “foreign export” traditionally reaches up to about 6% alcohol."
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-241-Beer-Examiner~y2008m9d21-Irishstyle-dry-stout--a-world-classic

"Stout’s deep brown/black color suggests strength, yet traditionally this beer was brewed to lower strengths. Even today, draft stouts in Ireland are at about 3% alcohol."
http://www.examiner.com/x-241-Beer-Examiner~y2009m11d23-Beer-Styles-Sociopolitical-stout-and-pilsener-part-22?

Random. Totally random.