From among the definitions given in dictionaries of the term tradition we must retain the one that specifies that a tradition is a cultural feature (as an attitude, belief, custom, institution) preserved or evolved from the past. This definition reminds us that traditions are handed down from generation to generation, but also that most traditions are accompanied by the claim, often implicit, that they preserve an earlier state of affairs. A tradition is therefore something which exists in the present (any present), but which at the same time makes claims about the past. If we assist at a traditional dance performance, we are not merely entertained; we are at the same time informed about how people danced in the past.

It is this claim about the past which makes it possible to speak about the reliability of a tradition. Traditions can make an implicit claim about the past which is not true. Indeed, traditions can be newly created (Hobsbawm, Ranger 1983). In that case they are strictly speaking no traditions at all, or at best unreliable traditions. Traditions, moreover, normally have a role to play in the present (each present) in which they occur: they may be linked to nationalistic movements, or to the sense of belonging that unites members of a certain group, or indeed they may be expressions of a religious identity. That is to say, traditions are rarely innocent survivals from a distant past, and far more often factors that play a role in the present.