[Tagging] Dutch cafes (was: What's a power=station?)

David Earl david at frankieandshadow.com
Tue Jan 19 15:23:52 GMT 2010


On 19/01/2010 15:06, Andre Engels wrote:
> - a cafe by day, a pub
> in the early evening, a bar in the later evening. Should I tag them
> with all three? And if so, when seeing a cafe during the day, do I
> need to come back in the evening to listen how loud the music is?

I think you should tag it according to what the establishment itself 
says it is. If it describes itself as a bar, then that's what it is. In 
the UK, the distinction between pub and restaurant or between fast_food 
(take-away_) and restaurant often always clear cut, but usually the 
place itself is categorising what it thinks it is in its signage.

In the case of Dutch cafe though, the word has been usurped for a 
purpose other than its original French meaning (which is pretty much 
universal I think - French cafes and English cafes are different in 
character, sure, but they are all restaurants with a limited menu and 
emphasis on soft and hot drinks, pastries and cold food, maybe not open 
in the evening), so the Dutch-cafe isn't actually claiming to be a cafe, 
it's claiming to be a special-Dutch-cafe not because the word cafe means 
something different in Dutch but because the word has been taken over 
for another use, and really deserves its own tag IMO.

Perhaps another example is hostel. This could be a hostel for 
backpackers - a simple hotel, possibly with shared accommodation (a 
"youth hostel" being a special case of that), or a shelter for homeless 
people. It probably wouldn't be wise to use the same tag for both, even 
though the same English word is used to describe them.

David




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