I’ve been challenged..
March 31, 2008 by knutalbert
Lew has raised an issue at his Seen Though a Glass blog, which has been followed up by Alan, who in turn has challenged me to come up with my thoughts. The issue at hand is how we should label ourselves. Lew feels it is time to retire the term beer geek - but what should we replace it with?
Lew throws in some suggestions which he dismisses right away:
beer snob, beer aficionado, beer connoisseur, beer enthusiast, ale conner, beer lover, beer guy. All of them fail on various points: snob is no better than geek, connoisseur and aficionado are considered “hoity-toity” by many (and can be a bitch to spell for some), enthusiast is too dry, ale conner is too arcane, beer lover is too stupid, and beer guy, well, it doesn’t do much for the women who like beer, does it?
Alan is quite content to call himself a Beer Nerd, and asks me for my opinion.
So, what about me?
First of all, my grasp of some of the finer nuances of English is not all that good, which makes it more tricky to give full approval or dismissal. Geek does not have that much of a meaning outside North America.
On the other hand, I certainly follow both their lines of reasoning. I have been a collector, too - Beatles records, concert tapes, books, stamps, comics…
And I’ve been a science fiction fan, though my present involvement is very modest.
I don’t care much what I’m called. When I talk to my wife, I refer to (in Norwegian) my beer friends or beer mates. I would not use the words connoisseur or aficionado, either, but it is probably the most spot on description.
There is a Norwegian term that is slightly old fashioned - beer dog. I kinda like that.
Beer dog! I love it.
I really agree with you. It’s difficult to care very much about what terms are used for people who care about beer. As you say, in Norwegian there probably is nothing better than “ølhund” (beer dog). English, apparently, is a poorer language, lacking a suitable term for this. I think we can leave it to the native speakers to sort that out.
Jaysus, as if we weren’t already unhealithily obsessed with labels.
Can I be a Double Imperial Ølhund?
See in English that would better translate to “beer hound” which is even better as a hound implies blood hound, the dog that tracks wicked people escaping from the police.
You ain’t nothing but a Hound Dog!
Yes, this is the best term. “You sly beer dog, Charlie Brown.”
Although Boak isn’t as keen on being referred to as a dog. She thinks it might reflect badly on her.
Hmmm…what’s the word for a female dog…hmmm…can’t recall…
Brew Dog?
Sure, grove, a pint of their whisky aged dog
Hey, I quite like “beer bitch”!
Beer dog/Ølhund is more a pilsner guy in my book. Beer Geek on the other hand, that’s us, but I don’t mind finding another term for us, but I doubt it will be changeable now, it’s way too common.