The G. W. Bush presidency made mangling the language socially acceptable, dewd.
Being a yank in my ninth year in France, and being the token yank in my local anglophone French conversational group, I can assure you that the differences in English between the two countries is sometimes perplexing. I think the suggestion of using the word "personalized," as opposed to bespoke, will work nicely.
Gosh, I didn't realize all of us spoke like that. I must pay more attention.
Also, I must post a photo. Will do so - one day soon.
I am an American who knows what “bespoke” means, although I think of it in terms of made-to-order suits from, for example, a Savile Row tailor. I have an advantage (?) as I lived in the UK for 5 years and am married to a Brit, not that he wears Savile Row suits.
I had a look at your web site, it’s very attractive. While I didn’t read all of it, I didn’t notice any other glaring English Englishisms that Merken-English speakers wouldn’t understand. I did notice one or two grammatical errors, use of it’s when its is correct.
It wouldn’t stop me from signing up for a tour. Good luck.
I have just come back from ten days in the UK, and want to venture that I hear the "Queen's English" spoken more often in Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa than England these days...so be careful about tossing stones around glass houses...
James, like you, I normally don't respond to accusations of ignorance, however, I wanted to explain myself. When insulting an entire nation, I've always found the prudent course is to go with the one in which you were born and lived, hence my impugning of Americans. I feel that insulting other country's ignoramuses only makes one seem jingoistic and xenophobic. You're right, I could have pointed out the flaws in the speaking of other languages but as I speak only one, again, I felt it best to go with what I was most familiar.
Perhaps it would have been a good idea to have prefaced my original post with a disclaimer that what followed was meant to be a joke.
I hope this clears things up.
Tracy,
I haven`t looked at your web site but when we in California realised they don`t use the word vineyard but prefer "Winery".
Tracy, customized and personalized ARE the correct English spellings also. Some people use =ised when the word's origin is French/Latin and =ized when the origin is Germanic, but this is not general. The -ized suffix is not American but English. I know I'm a bit of a pedant ;-) Oxford spelling
Good luck with your tours. I had a friend who did very well offering tours like this (only for cheese) in the UK to Americans. He only advertized in The New York Times and was very busy.
Best wishes, Ley
Bruce, normally I would not respond to your misrepresentation of American speech but you are giving the impression that ALL Americans talk like ignorant teenagers. I've been to England and have heard some of the ignorant people there speak English that was unintelligible. There are educated and uneducated in all countries. I speak four languages and it's always a delight to hear well educated people speak their language so don't paint 340 million people with your one statement of ignornace. I think an apology is in order, don't you?
Yes, there are a lot of different uses of the same words between the UK and America or Australia or Jamaica or Canada or any other English speaking country. The word "bespoke" is simply not used in the US. It must be an antiquated term no longer used by us. Hence, Americans and probably no one outside of the UK would know what it meant.
James
How about saying 'custom tours'. That's something most Americans would interpret as personalized. You could even add 'to suit your requirements/needs'.
Katherine,
All I can say is the other day on the tram here in Bordeaux, I lost track of how many times the two American students said "like" and the use of "go" "went" or "was like" in place of "say" or "said" is almost universal, even among adults. At least it was in Florida, which is, admittedly, not exactly the center of haute culture. Totally.
That's fantastic Katherine, thank you very much for your time and your suggestions, I will have a fiddle with the site this afternoon. I really appreciate the feedback as when you are looking at what you have written, it's often too difficult to see the wood for the trees as they say.
Bespoke is simply not a word that we use, it has nothing to do with our degree of "sophistication" or education! See Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bespoke ("Bespoke" is rarely used in any context in other varieties of English,[citation needed] which usually prefer terms such as "tailor-made" or "customised".) So I do believe that you may also have a difficult time conveying your meaning to Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, etc. (Bruce, I have never known an American that speaks like that, at least not since the late 80's when Valley Girl and thus Valley Talk was popular.)
I agree with Amy and Martha, we commonly use customized and personalized but also "tailored". I would tend toward the American "translation" of bespoke as tailored but also consider "made to order" (Oxford English Dictionary definition of bespoke as "made to order")
Personalized Wine Tours of the Burgundy Region: We tailor the experience to meet your needs and budget
I assume that this is your site: http://www.burgundybyrequest.com
When looking at your site I do see the use of the word bespoke several times on the first page...my suggestion would be to change it up and use bespoke as well as variations (custom, tailored, made to order), not only for maximizing the audience's comprehension, but for increased readability and flow.
I also noticed that in your testimonials page almost everyone uses the word "tailor" to describe what you provided.
I was also a bit confused by the flyout menu for "Burgundy Tours" which has 3 options: Private Tours, Bespoke Tours and Private Transfers. It seems that Private Tours and Bespoke Tours are actually the same thing but that your Bespoke Tours page is really where someone would go to CUSTOMIZE their Private Tour. Just a design suggestion, but perhaps change the flyout menu to have only 2 options: Private Custom Tours and Private Transfers as these seem to be the 2 services you are providing. Then within the Private Custom Tours page, add a secondary link to your current "Bespoke Tours" page and change it to read "Customize your Tour" and/or add an option to each of the 5 current "Private Tours" to customize them.
Another things that Americans don't commonly use, "After collection from your hotel". We would generally say "pick up" as collection has a negative connotation, usually used in reference to collecting a debt "collections agency".
Just some thoughts and good luck!
Cheers Amy and Martha, will look out for New Yorker and make sure I spell 'customised' and 'personalised' correctly too :-)
So much to think about and remember when my head is already crammed full of tour guide stuff.
Tracy,
That probably wasn't the best choice of words but more a reflection on the original criticism given to you and my own low birth. (Here is where, if I knew what I was doing, I would insert one of those winking emoticons)
Bruce
I would have said the same as Amy, "customized" or "personalized" are comparable terms for bespoke. Get a copy of the New Yorker and look at the ads in the back. There are dozens for similar tours.
Good luck!
Thanks Jo Anne, that's a good idea to check out the American ads, I'll have a look. With the prices I charge and the price of Burgundy wine in particular I'm after more high-end.
I wasn't suggesting to 'dumb things down' I was just genuinely surprised to find that a word I thought exuded 'special treatment' was totally unknown in another English speaking country. Thanks for looking at my website and giving it the OK, I appreciate it.
I'm not sure if what kind of American I am, 'high-end or middle'...
; )
...but It's true - I never heard the word 'bespoke' until I traveled to the UK. You could use 'custom' or 'personalized' if you want most Americans to understand at a first glance.
Tracy,
Seriously, I just checked your website and I don't understand the problem. How Americans now speak is kind of a sore subject with me and I'm not suggesting you "dumb things down". I also know nothing about running a business. Unfortunately, what I wrote in jest is not far from how Americans now talk. I see nothing wrong with speaking the Queen's English.
Bruce