Post #539488 by woofmutt on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 12:48 PM

Speaking of evolving (and since I did start this thread)...

My feelings about what constitutes Tiki have changed. I no longer believe that it has to have a tiki in order to be considered Tiki.

In the Woofmutt Style Guide to Internet Ranting and Time Wasting...

tiki (small t) is a representation of a Polynesian "god" whether anthropologically correct or completely made up. (This would also include a Party City rainbow faced and feather covered tiki in all its awfulness.)

Tiki (large T) refers to the Polynesian Pop style and includes all the elements typically associated with it.Tiki is a broad generalization and the term Polynesian Pop might be a better blanket phrase except it's five syllables long and pert near always requires a complex explanation when using it.

A Tiki bar is probably my one major exception to my highly personal rule that something can be Tiki and not involve a tiki. A Tiki bar should at the very least have one damned tiki in it if it's going to be called a Tiki bar.

However, among the Ordinaries it's completely understandable as to why the term Tiki would be applied to a bar covered in bamboo and thatch and decorated with some Pacific and nautical elements. If the so called "Tiki" bar is really swell I'm not going to bother trying to correct the misnomer. (If it's a really awful "Tiki" bar I'm not going to stay and will of course bitch about it here on Tiki Central.)