antiques and classic autos and such have pretty tight rules about how old something has to be to be technically 'old'....music, by it's nature depends on subjective feelings.

Tune in to some 'oldies' radio station be startled at what they are playing!...5 years seems to be ancient to some people.

Subjectively, I just treat a song as 'folk/trad' if it is at least 50 years old, and is showing up through the oral tradition done by people who don't know the author...even if the author CAN be easily found.

NOTE: this does NOT mean I don't sing the song or like the song or that I don't EXPECT the song will become a classic!!!! It is purely a test. Yes, I DO suppose that many Dylan songs will get there eventually, just as many Woody Guthrie songs have.

It is just my stubborn idea that a word had to mean something, or it is largely useless. "Old" and "folk" and "trad" are no better than "cool" or "gross" if they have meaning only in context to a particular group or one's self.

------------------------------------------------------ "I don't know what you mean by `glory,' " Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't--till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"

"But `glory' doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument," Alice objected.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all."