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Word of the Day: Cachet
From the get-go today, I’ll tell you that cachet is derived from French.
Therefore, the ‘t’ at the end of the word is not pronounced.
The correct pronunciation is Cash, eh?
Just pretend you’re a Canadian working at the grocery store register when you notice a customer holding a 100-dollar bill – ‘Cash, eh?’ (That’s a joke, so you should be smiling now.)
Anyways, cachet is a special quality that makes something admired or respected.
It’s kind of like charisma but different.
Having charisma causes people to like you.
Having cachet causes people to respect and admire you- they don’t have to love you, but they usually do.
Luxury brands have a certain cachet.
Even expensive everyday items such as Apple products have their own cachet.
Many people prefer to pay a higher price for an iPhone not only because it is of better quality but also because it is considered a premium product.
Having that premium product may indicate its holder is also somehow premium.
The cachet of the product rubs off on the person who owns it.
It’s the same reason people purchase designer bags but ride public transport.
The brand represents an image that everyone admires and desires.
Creating a premium version of a brand has been the marketing trend for the past five or so years in Japan.
Everything from KitKat bars to beer and even writing paper has a premium version.
Again, this gives the products a cachet that appeals to consumers’ wants and desires.
Sports teams also choose some of their members by the amount of cachet they can bring to the team.
Some clubs offer substantial signing bonuses to big-name players who they feel will not only contribute during the game but can also bring a certain amount of respectability to the team’s image.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 64.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.