Quote:
Originally Posted by soundman98
the issue is that we all want to distill the word down to a specific subset of the grouping. human nature is annoying.
if i say someone's autistic, or color blind, most people jump to wheelchair-bound/rainman characters, or people that see in black and white only and can't tell if that stop light is red or green.
the reality is there's a nearly infinite spectrum of diagnosable symptoms from 'normal' to outright vegetable state/blindness that count for either of those conditions.
same with 'enthusiast'. an enthusiast is anyone that has an interest in the subject. we are all car enthusiasts, as we all have had enough of an interest to sign up for a car-specific forum at least once.
wtf is a 'real enthusiast'? the distinction is what annoys me. it implies some of us are just here for improving our status somewhere, and actually have no interest in the subject.
but honestly, i'd rather be a 'fake enthusiast' than be associated with the groups of people constantly screaming for attention that they're 'real enthusiasts'...
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Right, which is why I said the automotive journalist and forum members here are typically
NOT talking about car enthusiasts. Someone can be a quadriplegic that can’t drive or a six year old, and still be a car enthusiast. The use of enthusiast is more specific to driving enthusiasts who were disappointed to see no manual option and fake vents on the new Supra, for instance. Journalists weren’t writing about how happy the enthusiasts were for all the fake vents because they are easier for the show and shine crowd to maintain, nor were they talking much about the layers or hardness of the paint, which might be good for polishing, nor were they discussing the clearance potential for slamming and stancing the car.
Again, mainstream automotive journalism focuses less on fads like stancing or lifting cars on Dubs. They focus less on show and shine, except for the fact that these cars are great for pictures. They focus less on large, luxury sedans or boring SUVs or on pedestrian vehicles like minivans, where the family enthusiast would be the reader. The big focus is on driving enthusiasts and track enthusiasts, which is typically why there is a track or performance review section of their articles and a subjective section from driving on some canyon roads. The measure of subjectivity is based on how well the car is a communicative and performing track car, while how well it can still be comfortably driving on the streets. It doesn’t matter if it is a true sports car, a sports sedan, a GT or a supercar, the measure is always something like a Miata for fun, a Lotus for handling, a Ferrari for sound, etc.
Like all words, their definitions change with usage over time, which is why ‘sports car’ no longer has the same meaning it once had, so I’m not saying the word enthusiast is cornered by driving and track enthusiasts, but it is undeniable that the mainstream automotive media and majority of people are referencing driving and track enthusiasts when they use the word enthusiast. When someone says the GR86 is an enthusiast car, they could be saying the platform is ideal for the satire car enthusiasts or the lifted Dub enthusiasts, but we likely know that they mean the common usage of enthusiast. Also, if you say that enthusiast means anything then enthusiast means nothing.
