| 词组 | patron |
| 释义 | patron Patron has been criticized as a fancy and inaccurate substitute for customer by commentators dating back to Richard Grant White 1870. This sense of patron apparently originated among merchants during the 19th century. Merchants in the 20th century have continued to use it, despite the repeated criticism, and it seems safe to say that merchants in the 21st century will use it as well. It also occurs regularly in expository writing, especially of a journalistic nature. As Evans 1957 notes, it tends to refer less often to the customers of shops than to the customers of restaurants, bars, hotels, theaters, and the like: • ... selling flowers to the patrons of the luxurious hotels —Current Biography, November 1965 • ... in a quarrel with another patron at the Copaca-bana night club —Current Biography, February 1967 • Patrons are asked to make a note of the exit nearest to their seat —Boston Symphony Orchestra Program, 22 Oct. 1971 A person staying at a hotel or attending a performance is, in fact, unlikely to be called a customer (the most likely word for the hotel-stayer is probably guest), but customer is, of course, commonly used for a person being served in a restaurant or bar. Patron just sounds a little classier—or more pretentious, depending on the one you ask. It also more strongly implies a regular or frequent customer than does customer itself. |
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