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Old 09-23-2018, 07:19 AM   #40
Carruthers
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Buckinghamshire UK
Posts: 4,059
Quote:
Originally Posted by fargon View Post
Their marketing person needed to pay attention in class, that is a fourth grade vocabulary word.
It's a term I've always associated with the tailoring trade, a 'bespoke suit' being made to measure as against 'off the peg'.
It seems to have an honourable enough past:

Quote:
Perhaps the most famous customer in the Benson & Clegg ledgers is His Majesty King George VI
The King had originally been a customer of the company whilst holding the title of His Royal Highness The Duke of York back in 1937, but following his accession to the throne Benson & Clegg were formally granted the honour of the Royal Warrant as his bespoke tailors.
LINK


Separated by a Common Language,
Observations on British and American English by an American linguist in the UK, is an interesting blog:

Quote:
Incidentally, if a tailor makes you a suit in the UK, it's said to be a bespoke suit.
In the US we'd say tailored or made-to-measure, which is perfectly sayable in the UK too.
Anything that's made to personal specifications can be bespoke.
Checking the web, I got "bespoke vehicles", "bespoke network solutions", "bespoke mirrors", "bespoke browbands" (for horses).
LINK
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