I have a confession to make. I quite like the word bespoke. I know, I know: it sounds like I've betrayed you all and given up on the wank word resistance movement. But hear me out.
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Essentially, bespoke is the opposite of mass produced, which makes it a hard word to hate. The problem is, as with so many words that gain popularity in corporate circles, it's now being flung about willy-nilly or, worse, jammed in front of undesirables like solution and strategy.
The more shabbily the word is treated the deeper into the managementese mire it will sink, the linguistic equivalent of that horse from The Neverending Story. Only vigilance can save it from this fate worse than death.
That's why I was so proud, just a few weeks ago, to hear my good friend Dr Addie Wootten tell me she'd struck a blow for plain speech. As a mover and shaker in the world of psychology and medicine, Addie has every reason to do absolutely no moving and shaking in the realm of word conservation. But she has chosen the road less travelled for her esteemed caste.
In August, she was speaking with a group of influential Melburnians when a very high-powered executive said he wanted to set up a "bespoke meeting". Addie, astounded, asked "By bespoke meeting, do you mean meeting?" In one version of the story she was hoisted on to the shoulders of several nearby aristocrats who ecstatically chanted her name. In another there was just a long, gratifying silence.
Whatever the truth, the top end of town is quaking. The tables are turning.
Maintain the rage.
Jonathan Rivett writes bespoke words at www.haught.com.au
