“This is any anything but a normal lighting upgrade.  It is adding bespoke charm to any room by swapping your blah bulb-topper lamp shade for a hand painted one. “ WSJ

“ While factory-made furniture is almost always less expensive, nothing beats the charm of a bespoke, hand-carved chair or table.”

Bespoke is an adjective meaning custom-made articles. Pretty simple.

The word is often used to described clothing, It is the opposite of off-the-rack. Bespoke clothing is custom-made.  “A bespoke suit.”

It is pronounced kind of like “bih SPOKE” – not bee SPOKE. Emphasis on SPOKE.

Recent examples…..

“Ask your butcher to grind part chuck with short ribs or brisket and live your most bespoke life”. Bon Appétit

“The marketing, the approach has to be very bespoke.” The Hollywood Reporter

Bespoke is another fabulous word for the fabulous Word of the Week.  It is a word that you can easily work into your communication.   Proper use (pronounce it properly) will make you appear intelligent (even if you are not) but not pretentious.

To learn more about this fabulous word, and to hear the correct pronunciation go to:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bespoke

A Past Word of the Week Revisited – #64 feckless

feckless – acting in an irresponsible, weak, or cowardly manner. Inept, incompetent. “feckless leadership.”

Quote of the Week….

“Thy magic power re-unites all that custom has divided,
All men become brothers under the sway of thy gentle wings.”
Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony “Ode to Joy”, translated from German

Ah…were it that simple.

As a side note, PBS “Great Performances” Season 50 episode 3 recently ran an excellent live performance of Beethoven’s 9 Symphony “Ode to Joy” by the New York Phil. Do yourself a favor. Stream it in if you can, turn off the news and your cell phone, then relax and become immersed in the glorious music…guaranteed to make you feel better.

Covid Update….In a previous edition I advanced the theory that drinking whiskey may provide protection from Covid, and that wine does not. I have proven that theory to be false….which I guess it’s why they’re called theories and not facts. However I continue drinking good bourbon whiskey in the hopes that it will prevent a relapse.

No Words Needed….

Final Thoughts….on Thanksgiving Dinner

Happy Thanksgiving

And Until Next Saturday…..

Gramps

100 weeks of great words
1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2-   assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”
3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent – habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 –  truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic – foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge. In response to a demand to immediately surrender the general sent back the following: “Nuts”
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – “Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable. ” 
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. “She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.
42 – obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”
43 – iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions “He was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.”
44 – oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting. “We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace.” Or something done in an indirect way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.
45 – profligate – wasteful – wildly extravagant.  “He has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.”
46 – raconteur – a good teller of stories.  “We always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur”.
47 – taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech…saying little.  It usually connotes unsociability. “Nothing bothered the taciturn Hogan more that excessive praise.”
48 – fungible – capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable.  “The court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded as fungible.”
49 – filibuster – The use of tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly. This currently requires a 60 vote Senate majority. “They stopped the bill from coming to a vote by the use of a filibuster”.
50 – hegemony – preponderant influence or authority over others: Domination. “They battled for hegemony in Asia.”
51 – de facto – being such in effect though not formally recognized or contrary to established law “a de facto state of war” for a war that has not been officially declared.
52 – blockchain – an open, distributed leger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.
53 – bête noire – A person or thing one particularly dislikes or is strongly detested. “The abuse of women was a bête noire for Lincoln.”
54 – evince -to constitute outward evidence of….to display clearly: reveal. “He evinced a depraved mind.”
55 – virago – a loud overbearing woman.  Domineering, violent, or bad tempered. “Democrats, on the other hand, saw Jessie as a Republican virago.”
56 – metonym –  a name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. “Washington is a metonym for the federal government of the US.”
57 – felicitous is an adjective defined as  well chosen or suited to the circumstances such as “a felicitous phrase”.
58 – ennui – a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. “He succumbed to ennui and despair”
59 – imprimatur – a noun meaning sanction or approval. “He gave the book his imprimatur.”
60 – fiat – A command or act of will that creates something without further effort.  An authoritative determination. “He runs the company by fiat.”
61 – salient – meaning most notable or important.  Of notable significance. “It succinctly covered all the salient point of the case.”
62 – meme – an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.  “The band encouraged fans to make memes to advertise the U.S. release of their EP.”
63 –  delectation – delight or enjoyment. “Here are some chocolates for your delectation.”
64 – feckless – acting in an irresponsible, weak, or cowardly manner. Inept, incompetent. “feckless leadership.”
65 – Ignominious – Deserving or causing public disgrace or shame. despicable, “His was an ignominious withdrawal.”
66 – mollify – to soothe in temper or disposition. “He mollified his staff with promises of future raises.”
67 – prosaic – dull, unimaginative, commonplace. “prosaic advice.”
68 – diaspora – a noun meaning the dispersion of any people from their original homeland. “A diaspora of thousands of Afghans has arrived in the United States.”
69 – tête-à-tête – a private conversation between two people. “They had a tête-à-tête last night over a quiet dinner.“
70 – fatuous – silly and pointless. inanely foolish, “A fatuous comment.”
71 – ineffable – indescribable. “ineffable joy”
72 – putative -generally considered or reputed to be.  Assumed to exist or to have existed. “His putative conversation had a big impact on the events of my life.”
73 – ineluctable – unable to be resisted or avoided.  inescapable.  “the ineluctable facts of history.” 
74 – redolent – exuding fragrance, aromatic, scented. “The air is redolent of seaweed.” – or evocative, suggestive. strongly reminiscent of.  “names redolent of history and tradition.”
75 – excoriate – a verb that means to censure or severely criticize.  “The papers that had been excoriating him were now lauding him.”
76 – straw-man – an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent’s real argument. A weak or imaginary opposition (such as an argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted.
77 – élan or elan – a noun defined as vigorous spirit or enthusiasm. style, energy. “Big and muscular, he exuded a natural elan.”
78 – repartee – a conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies, amusing. light sparring with words.“ He had a quick mind and a splendid gift for repartee.”
79 – louche is an adjective meaning disreputable or sordid often in a rakish or appealing way. “The louche world of the theater.”
80 – transgender – an adjective meaning of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity differs from the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth. “A transgender American”.
81 – shambolic – an adjective meaning obviously chaotic, disorganized, confused or mismanaged.  “The department’s shambolic accounting department.”
82 – minion – a noun defined as a follower or underling of a powerful person, especially a servile or unimportant one. A subordinate or petty official.  “He’s one of the boss’ minions.”
83 – militia – a noun meaning a military force that is raised from the civilian population to supplement a regular army in an emergency. “Creating a militia was no answer to the army’s manpower problem.”
84 – evince – a verb meaning revealing the presence of (a quality or feeling)”  To constitute outward evidence of or to display clearly. “His letters evince the excitement he felt at undertaking this journey.”
85 – egregious – outstandingly bad, shocking, flagrantly bad, conspicuously bad. Putin’s egregious war on Ukraine.
86 – sycophant – a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage. A servile self-seeking flatterer. “She mistook sycophants for true friends.”
87 – desultory is an adjective defined as lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm. “Another desultory day of shopping.”
88 – misanthrope – a person that hates or distrusts humankind, human behavior, or human nature.  One who avoids human society. “A streak of misanthropy is in his nature”
89 – euphemism – a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. “My mother passed away”
90- rectitude –  morally correct behavior or thinking. Moral integrity. His moral rectitude came before his political party.
91 – insouciance –  lighthearted unconcern, nonchalance. “She wandered into the meeting with complete insouciance to the fact that she was late.”
92 – erudite –  It is an adjective used to describe someone who has or shows great knowledge or learning. “Ken could turn any conversation into an erudite discussion,”
93 – ostensibly – purported to be true but not necessarily true.  “His series is ostensibly about a single family tearing itself apart.“
94 – exigency (or often the plural exigencies) means a state of affairs that makes urgent demands or needs. “They better be quick in responding to the exigencies of a hurricane.”
95 – inexorable or inexorably meaning impossible to stop, unrelenting “The seemingly inexorable march of new technology“.
96 – torpor is a noun meaning “a state of physical and mental inactivity. Lethargy, apathy, dullness.” “They veered between apathetic torpor and hysterical fanaticism.”
97 – existential – of, or relating to, or affirming existence. “An existential threat to control of Congress.
98 – non-sequitur is a response that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said. “We were talking about the new restaurant when she threw in some non sequitur about her dog.”
99 – endemic is an adjective meaning a disease or condition regularly found among particular people or in a certain area. “Complacency is endemic in industry today”.
100 – Bespoke is an adjective meaning custom-made articles. “A bespoke suit”.