Sometimes, a new word is so bad, it really shouldn’t be given a new life. But people will still resurrect it, hoping that this time, it will stick.
Bleisure is one such word. An ugly combination of business and leisure, it describes a type of travelling which combines, well, business and leisure. And so the Accor group has announced a revamping of its Pullman brand, with an emphasis on Bleisure travellers, giving a more luxurious experience to those travelling on business.
It seems that people have been trying to get this term to take off for at least three years, and the fact that it is still being presented as a new word in this latest release confirms that it has simply not gained any traction at all. Hotel chains were pushing it in advertorials in 2010, and others were trying to get in on the act the same year.
However, when Bleisure was submitted to Collins dictionary last year as a possible word for inclusion, it was rejected on the grounds that there was very limited evidence of it actually being used.
So while you clearly can’t keep any idea down forever in the world of marketing, the history of Bleisure travel so far suggests that it may not have much of a future, and hopefully this is a word that will disappear into the linguistic oblivion it deserves.
Darren
Not sure which is worse; bleisure or advertorial
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