Lately, I’ve been hearing the word “bespoke” more often. It looks and sounds like a word I should know, and yet, I don’t. On a recent episode of one of my favorite podcasts about tech, Hard Fork, co-host Casey Newton said, in a discussion about AI:
Why am I using this bespoke start up business analysis when I can just plug these files into something already on my computer?
Most recently, bespoke appeared in the novel I just finished, Pachinko. A character referenced a rich man and his “bespoke suits.”
I found great relief last week when a friend who is an architect said he recently heard the word repeatedly during a presentation and felt the same way. What is this word and why does it keep popping up?
According to Merriam Webster, bespoke comes from the old English verb “bespeak,” first used in the 1500s to mean “to hire, engage, or claim beforehand.” With time, bespoke (which is the past participle of bespeak) came to be used as an adjective to describe things that are ordered before they are created. Hence, a “bespoke suit” is custom tailored.
Bespoke is also being used a lot more in the tech industry to refer to custom made software and hardware designed to suit a particular client’s needs. Bespoke software is flexible, easy to integrate, and provides room for growth. It gives businesses a competitive advantage. No wonder there’s so much “bespoke” buzz!
Merriam claims that the rise in use of bespoke could also be related to modern consumer preference for specially made items over those that are mass produced.
Now you know! Go out there and use your vocab with confidence!
What word are you hearing more often that you’d like to know more about? Tell me about it in the comments. You can also read my posts about contemporaneous and antithetical here.
Thanks for getting nerdy with me!
