The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #110512 Message #2319263
Posted By: Jim Dixon
18-Apr-08 - 10:20 AM
Thread Name: Old-Timey ... TWEE or what?
Subject: RE: Old-Timey ... TWEE or what?
"Twee" is a British term that means deliberately and falsely contrived to seem old, old-fashioned or quaint—like when a new fish-and-chips shop is named "Ye Olde Fysshe & Chippes Shoppe."
It's not easy to sort out what deserves to be called twee and what doesn't. I suppose from some people's perspective, the whole concept of folk music is twee.
Here's my attempt:
Some things are authentically old. Those are not twee. (Assuming they were not trying to look old when they were new.) An antique wooden boat is not twee.
Some things are new but are deliberately made in an old style in the sincere belief that the old ways were best, or at least interesting enough to preserve. Those things aren't twee either, in my opinion. A new, handmade wooden boat isn't twee.
Some things are new, made by modern methods, and have some superficial features that are designed to look old. A fiberglass boat painted to look as if it were made of wood—now that's twee.