5 ms·

> they're a social space I haven't found replicated anywhere else Sounds a lot like many pubs.

by chrisseaton 5y ago

koolba 5y ago
A dive bar is literally a pub.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  You get one or more bars in a pub, but a bar is not a pub.
  - umanwizard 5y ago
    In American English “bar” is the name of the establishment, not just the piece of furniture inside.
  - jfoutz 5y ago
    Oh my. We can all tell the parent poster is trying to connect an idea from English to American. I appreciate that you're fussy and pedantic, because I work with computers. your observation is crisp in English, but irrelevant in American. apologies for the downvotes. I didn't do it, but I understand the root. And hopefully you do too, after my snide commentary.
  - dreamcompiler 5y ago
    Likewise a jigsaw is not a puzzle; it's a type of saw. But we'll cut ;-) you some slack for the poor terminology if you'll let us name a drinking establishment for a piece of furniture.
BoxOfRain 5y ago
What I feel a lot of people who've not experienced them don't get about your average British pub is that it's basically a communal living room. You're not just there for the pints (although they're very important too). Fun story, when I was an intern there was a pub just outside the industrial estate where the office was situated. This pub was frequented so regularly by the company that one of the developers actually had access to the till. On hot days we'd walk right past the queue, pull our own pints, pay for them, and be out in the beer garden long before everyone else!
- jofer 5y ago
  Yeah, that's exactly it. (E.g. at my local bar the regulars can just add another tally on the sheet at the bar and grab a beer.) Dive bars / neighborhood bars are just a shared living room with beer. The catch is that something called a "pub" in most of the US implies it's a bit fancier. Somewhere you're going for dinner, but not to chat with random folks. That's not necessarily the case in the midwest, but still, something labeled as an "Irish Pub" or "British Pub" here is going to be 1) slightly more upscale and 2) focused more on food. So what you'd call a pub is a "dive bar" or "neighborhood bar" over here. Food is typically a potluck or something grilled outside, as having a kitchen would make it a restaurant and result in different inspections/rules/etc. There's probably a potluck anytime there's a big game on TV. You're _highly_ likely to run into your neighbours. There will probably be at least one bar dog or bar cat.
  - Clewza313 5y ago
    Which is doubly odd, since in the UK & Ireland traditional pubs are noticeably not focused on food. Although gastropubs and the like are starting to become more common.
  - chrisseaton 5y ago
    In the UK many pubs struggle to make enough money without food.
jfoutz 5y ago
that may be the case. in the U.S. (I'm from the U.S. it's stratified by age and income and race, by default. Dive bars, amazingly, are not) I've had a hard time finding a casual space that didn't involve alcohol, where you can just sorta hang out and complain about stuff. dive bars are perfect for this. great conversation with folks from all kinds of backgrounds. coffee shops don't really cut it. there aren't that many spots to just, chat.

> they're a social space I haven't found replicated anywhere else Sounds a lot like many pubs.

koolba 5y ago

A dive bar is literally a pub.

chrisseaton 5y ago
You get one or more bars in a pub, but a bar is not a pub.
- umanwizard 5y ago
  In American English “bar” is the name of the establishment, not just the piece of furniture inside.
- jfoutz 5y ago
  Oh my. We can all tell the parent poster is trying to connect an idea from English to American. I appreciate that you're fussy and pedantic, because I work with computers. your observation is crisp in English, but irrelevant in American. apologies for the downvotes. I didn't do it, but I understand the root. And hopefully you do too, after my snide commentary.
- dreamcompiler 5y ago
  Likewise a jigsaw is not a puzzle; it's a type of saw. But we'll cut ;-) you some slack for the poor terminology if you'll let us name a drinking establishment for a piece of furniture.

BoxOfRain 5y ago

What I feel a lot of people who've not experienced them don't get about your average British pub is that it's basically a communal living room. You're not just there for the pints (although they're very important too). Fun story, when I was an intern there was a pub just outside the industrial estate where the office was situated. This pub was frequented so regularly by the company that one of the developers actually had access to the till. On hot days we'd walk right past the queue, pull our own pints, pay for them, and be out in the beer garden long before everyone else!

jofer 5y ago
Yeah, that's exactly it. (E.g. at my local bar the regulars can just add another tally on the sheet at the bar and grab a beer.) Dive bars / neighborhood bars are just a shared living room with beer. The catch is that something called a "pub" in most of the US implies it's a bit fancier. Somewhere you're going for dinner, but not to chat with random folks. That's not necessarily the case in the midwest, but still, something labeled as an "Irish Pub" or "British Pub" here is going to be 1) slightly more upscale and 2) focused more on food. So what you'd call a pub is a "dive bar" or "neighborhood bar" over here. Food is typically a potluck or something grilled outside, as having a kitchen would make it a restaurant and result in different inspections/rules/etc. There's probably a potluck anytime there's a big game on TV. You're _highly_ likely to run into your neighbours. There will probably be at least one bar dog or bar cat.
- Clewza313 5y ago
  Which is doubly odd, since in the UK & Ireland traditional pubs are noticeably not focused on food. Although gastropubs and the like are starting to become more common.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  In the UK many pubs struggle to make enough money without food.

jfoutz 5y ago

that may be the case. in the U.S. (I'm from the U.S. it's stratified by age and income and race, by default. Dive bars, amazingly, are not) I've had a hard time finding a casual space that didn't involve alcohol, where you can just sorta hang out and complain about stuff. dive bars are perfect for this. great conversation with folks from all kinds of backgrounds. coffee shops don't really cut it. there aren't that many spots to just, chat.