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

David Earl david at frankieandshadow.com
Tue Jan 19 16:27:31 GMT 2010


On 19/01/2010 15:55, Emilie Laffray wrote:
> But it shows that it is difficult to find a proper
> definition for something like this. The meaning can be quite different.

Perhaps, but I think the way to solve it is (1) to take what the signs 
say it is and (2) translate that into English for the tag - I wish this 
were more linguistically equitable, but that's the way it has developed.

In this case, if the French consensus is that French (or Dutch) café = 
English bar, then I guess it should be tagged as bar (and French and 
Dutch presets reflect this), and it is unfortunate that the words are 
confused in this way because they came from a common root (in this case 
directly from French).

It wouldn't be an issue except for the similarity or coincidence of the 
word. You would follow the procedure above for, say, hôpital where there 
isn't an English word formed from those letters.

English cafés do sometimes serve alcohol, but you wouldn't generally go 
into one specifically for that - you'd more likely be going in for 
coffee and a sandwich. Derogatively, there's also the English "caff" or 
"greasy spoon" - sometimes "transport café" aimed at truckers - which 
traditionally specializes in fried foods like chips, egg, bacon and very 
strong tea!

David




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