Thread: I don't get why people use the word "genre"

1st - if used correctly it is a vague or loose set of criteria used to categorize literature, music, art, etc... this would be used correctly:
"what genre literature do you prefer fiction, or non-fiction?" vague and loose in its criteria.

too often do people use it to categorize into finite columns of music. rock and metal would not be different genres. although different in many aspects, one would be a sub category of the other whether in a pre-dated hierarchy or hardness. others to this likeness would be country & blue grass; hip hop & dance; jazz & blues; rap & crap.
(although I was serious in my opinion of rap let it slide for a minute while I ramble on)

A lot of these are even related and not limited to just "this" & "that" like R&B, soul, and hip hop.

2nd - its a French word. have you ever been around a group of Spanish speaking individuals and every 10th word is in English? makes you think 1 of 2 things: there isn’t a good translation of the word or phrase like "eat ****" or the individuals are not intelligent enough to actually translate it's meaning into the language equivalent. in any case think how you sound standing next to a French man.

In any case, this ends the grammar lesson for the day, and please go home and correct all your friends who think they are cool for using this word and not knowing the meaning.

You are right in that it is a French word. It actually started out as a French word used to define gender, then started getting used in the art world. This was way back in the 1700s or so. It is probably one of the most misused words in the English language because, like you said, it is now used so vaguely...

Not surprising. The French part that is. I have some French climbing buddies and they seem to be somewhat confused about a lot of things...