chgoeditor wrote:Bottom line: a definition is determined by the group concensus, not by some authoritarian organization (though the authoritarian organization may later step in and promulgate an "official" definition, but that only means so much).

I'd like to argue with you about this. Shall we start with barbecue?

gleam wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:Bottom line: a definition is determined by the group concensus, not by some authoritarian organization (though the authoritarian organization may later step in and promulgate an "official" definition, but that only means so much).

I'd like to argue with you about this. Shall we start with barbecue?

Barbecue is OK, but I think a a debate about (and including) martinis would make for a more entertaining argument

gleam wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:Bottom line: a definition is determined by the group concensus, not by some authoritarian organization (though the authoritarian organization may later step in and promulgate an "official" definition, but that only means so much).

I'd like to argue with you about this. Shall we start with barbecue?

Eh, it wouldn't be much of an argument because I'm not a huge bbq fan. But to return to my original analogy, if you look at a dictionary, you'll see that some words have several meanings! *g*

chgoeditor wrote:Bottom line: a definition is determined by the group concensus, not by some authoritarian organization (though the authoritarian organization may later step in and promulgate an "official" definition, but that only means so much).

I understand what you're saying, and that's all fine and good, but I object to the implication that attempting to maintain certain definitions is an exercise in futility.

There is value in distinguishing between what you get from high-end gelaterie in Italy and the freezer case at Dominick's for $3 a quart. When a word like gelato becomes valuable from a marketing standpoint, it becomes vastly overused and applied to all sorts of things that otherwise wouldn't be considered such. If Kraft thinks that calling their American cheese singles "gelato" is going to help them sell more product, they're going to do it -- but that doesn't make it correct.

What I'm saying is that in a marketing context, taking the position that "any definition is correct if enough people say it's so" only serves to collect a broad spectrum of things under one popular name, thereby rendering that name meaningless. I haven't done the research to determine whether or not that is what's happened here, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

The spring/summer issue of Dining Out - Chicago has an article on this exact subject. Basically they came to the same opinion, without as much detail, as gelato is usually defined by a lack of air and less fat. But not always.