On the matter of pubs
Apr. 12th, 2009 07:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonlite_trystSpecifically, ye olde tradional british pubs.
Over the last 4 years I have read many fics and most of them have adhered to canon details in some form or other. But time and time again I'm thrown out of a fic once the characters enter one of the pubs in the wizarding world; pubs which, by their very location in the wizarding world, I expect be traditional (unless refurbishment is mentioned) but find contain unfamiliar elements such as the booth, the counter and the barkeep. *warning, image heavy*
Ladies and gents, may I present the traditional bar:
That's bar people, not counter. To most Brits, a counter is something in a cafe, or even a shop.
Traditional british pubs have - and this is the important bit -open seating: chairs around tables, stools at the bar .
They do not have booths. You may find a booth or two in one of the reproduction pub interiors that now grace most Muggle city centres, such as the Eerie pub chain or Weatherspoons, but finding booths in an unrefurbished traditional pub would be highly unlikely. And if there's one thing you can rely on in the wizarding world, it's tradition.
Finally, for most of us Brits, it's usual to order beer from either a barman or a barmaid, although that doesn't mean that barkeep is incorrect. The term was unfamilair to me until I read fanfic, but I couldn't find any Google entry that defined barkeep as being of either english or american origin.
So please folks, if you intend any witch or wizard to enter ye olde Leakey Cauldron or other unmodernised establishment, leave the booths and counters out.
Over the last 4 years I have read many fics and most of them have adhered to canon details in some form or other. But time and time again I'm thrown out of a fic once the characters enter one of the pubs in the wizarding world; pubs which, by their very location in the wizarding world, I expect be traditional (unless refurbishment is mentioned) but find contain unfamiliar elements such as the booth, the counter and the barkeep. *warning, image heavy*
Ladies and gents, may I present the traditional bar:
That's bar people, not counter. To most Brits, a counter is something in a cafe, or even a shop.
Traditional british pubs have - and this is the important bit -
They do not have booths. You may find a booth or two in one of the reproduction pub interiors that now grace most Muggle city centres, such as the Eerie pub chain or Weatherspoons, but finding booths in an unrefurbished traditional pub would be highly unlikely. And if there's one thing you can rely on in the wizarding world, it's tradition.
Finally, for most of us Brits, it's usual to order beer from either a barman or a barmaid, although that doesn't mean that barkeep is incorrect. The term was unfamilair to me until I read fanfic, but I couldn't find any Google entry that defined barkeep as being of either english or american origin.
So please folks, if you intend any witch or wizard to enter ye olde Leakey Cauldron or other unmodernised establishment, leave the booths and counters out.
