The difference between Pale Ale and IPA

Irregardless just showed up in dictionaries one day because people use it so often. Does that make it ok? I would rather see a language that actually means what it means. Irregardless is a double negative and literally means the opposite of peoples connotations. Your argument seems to imply we should do the same with beer.

 

Thanks for the info, might have been easier to send them kegs of gin, but no work would get done,

 

Yes. Correct.

If 330 million people say it then that's the meaning of the word.
If 330 million people say otherwise, then that is the meaning of the word.

It is not contradictory to say words have meaning and also to state that the meaning of words changes over time. My point is that it is ridiculous for one group of people to insist that their usage is the correct usage, their dictionary is the only dictionary. They determine the the meaning of words.

Do we still spoke like Shakespeare? Queen Elizabeth I? Thomas Jefferson?
Who do you know that refers to beer as 3 varieties being Ales, Stouts and Lagers?

 

I think it's fair to say that at least 250,000,000 of them barely know what a stout is - "it's Guinness, a meal in a glass!" - would be about as much as you could hope for.. And about 329,999,000 (approx.) would be shocked to know this is a point for protracted debate on the internet. Less than 1,000 (being generous), have a strong (or any) opinion on stout>stout vs stout>ale.

 

Correct.

One example of how words evolve in meaning to the word “ale”:

“In medieval England, ale was an alcoholic drink made from grain, water, and fermented with yeast. The difference between medieval ale and beer was that beer also used hops as an ingredient. Virtually everyone drank ale. It provided significant nutrition as well as hydration (and inebriation).”

Needless to say but in England the word ale has a different meaning than the above.

Cheers!

 

I was being playful with you.

I understand your argument, and I mean this respectfully, but don't you think you can take a little of your own advice?

 

Communication and language only work if definitions remain constant. You are, quite literally, arguing against yourself here. Maybe, just maybe, the names have not changed but, rather, the beer itself has changed, which is what started this whole argument in the first place. When a new animal species is found we do not simply stop using the nomenclature assigned to the existing species and reassign ot to the new. This reminds me of an old saying, something about a forest and the trees...

 

Redefinition through ignorance is an underlying theme in the English language.

One of my favorites is the word factoid; look up the origin and evolution of its definition through misuse (misunderstanding?). I think we can blame the internet.

 

You will have to look outside of English to find that. And with beer vernacular mashing up terminology from a dozen different cultures and languages I wouldn't spend too much energy trying to corral that flock of cats.

However, the next person that says "adjuncted" to refer to a flavored stout better hope they're not within smiting distance

 

I had a professor in college who was adjuncted.

 

Cheers to that!

 

"Adjunct" surely is one of the more interesting labelings in beer. Sometimes you feel it's (mis)interpreted as "add junk"

 

Cue @bbtkd with the copyright infringement post. Get ready to lawyer up.

Though in @unlikelyspiderperson 's case I think the complaint was the addition of -ed, and that most of us had swallowed the bitter pill that is adjunct = additional flavoring. I might be wrong though. And if I am, then I find it heartening that some people still have the strength/stamina to fight the good fight.

 

Using adjunct or -ed shows you are inside. Maybe the latter right now? Not in the absolute kernel though (we)

 

@marquis, for one!

 

Jackson, for two... but that's sort of another story.

(and more complex than just ale, Stout, and lager)

 

Don't forget about the IPA's. Different breed. (Yes I know, India Pale Ale, but anyway, there is something almost magical about IPA's)

Solution to the conflict: all is beer!

 

Except when its braggot. Irregardless we should all call it a knight on this one. For all intensive purposes it has been exhausted.

 

And, further discussion is mute.