What does “la tradi” mean at a French bakery?

In a French bakery you will hear la tradi, a shortening of la baguette de tradition française. It is the more prized baguette, made under a 1993 decree only from flour, water, salt and yeast, with no additives and no freezing. It usually costs a little more than the plain baguette, and many people ask for it by name. French speakers love clipped forms, and this one is bakery-counter standard.

In this comic sketch, a baker offers a customer that is out of everything else le pain céréales ou la tradi, and the customer answers, deadpan, that he has no choice anyway. Other bakery words work the same way: une viennoiserie is any pastry made from laminated or enriched dough, such as a croissant, and une boule is a round loaf. If you can name the bread you want, ordering goes much faster.