Topic: Vintage paperweight = what age?

[tropdevin]

***

Oh dear. Another VERRUCCI BREGGOGNA paperweight, described as 'fabulous' and 'vintage'.  'Fabulous' is a value judgement, so you cannot argue with that; but 'vintage' for something made in the last few years?  I wish we had a universal agreed defintion for 'vintage' -or do we? Any views?

Alan

[KevinH]

Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Tenth Edition, Revised, 2002:

vintage: adj. 1 referring to vintage wine. 2. denoting something from the past of high quality

Many online dictionaries give a definition along the lines of: "having appeal; classic" or "representing what is most characteristic of something".

As far as I can tell from internet searches, the only adjectival use of "vintage" that relates to specific dates are those for Cars and Clothing (and it seems that clothing experts disagree on whether anything newer than 25 years should be included as vintage).

So, for anything that's not a car or a piece of clothing, it's ok to call it vintage if it is thought that it 'has appeal' or is 'characteristic of its type'. And most of the Chinese weights certainly are characteristic of their type.

[Lily of the Valley]

I found this interesting:

http://forums.ebay.com/thread.jspa?mod=1112307266034&threadID=400098219&rw=true&tstart=2720&anticache=1265951418768

10 of 74 gives some good definitions, IMHO.

Lily ..... currently exploring the Delta Quadrant aboard the Starship Enterprise 

[KevinH]

10 of 74 makes valid points about "common usage" but misses the point that "vintage" has a correct usage for cars at least 50 years old.

3 of 74 (and the other designations of "butchiedog_gone_it" [ * ] ) makes good points about the "hijacking" and "abuse" of the word "vintage" for the purpose of selling non-wine related items. But again misses the point about vintage cars.
[ * ] very likely the same Butchiedog who used to post quite a bit in the GMB

I wonder if dictionary compilers, such as those for the OED or Chambers, now include eBay online message boards (or even the GMB - with its many threads that include "vintage" and "antique" with a variety of meanings) as part of their approved source material for determining common usage and hence inclusion in future editions of dictionaries?

Maybe there is already an approved dictionary definition for "vintage" that covers the generalised "something older than today" meaning?

[Frank]

I wonder if dictionary compilers, such as those for the OED or Chambers, now include eBay online message boards...

Somehow doubt it. There is no guaranteed permanence as with printed references...

[glasstrufflehunter]

In spite of his name Verrucci Breggogna is from China and is not 'vintage' unless vintage means made in the last few years.