- It’s unclear whether only student-run businesses at Rice are using this word to talk about customers or whether this is a more general phenomenon across service jobs in English-speaking countries. This word is typically only used by service workers or employees to talk about customers; the customers themselves are not using this word to describe themselves.
custo
clipping noun
a customer
Etymology : : The word “customer” was clipped after the first syllable but before the /m/. This was to differentiate it from the preexisting word “custom”, which is typically used in a formal register. In clipping from the m and onward, “custo” was able to be used in more casual settings because it didn’t resemble the more formal word “custom”.
Source : “If a custo asks for a catering order without 48 hours notice, you can refuse them immediately.” -Rice Coffeehouse manager, November 2019
Last modified: 10 December 2019