Customers vs. patrons?

[dina]

Test No. incompl/inter-12 "At the Restaurant", question 7

As they're special ......... of the restaurant, they always get a good table.

(a) partners
(b) customers
(c) patrons
(d) visitors

Test No. incompl/inter-12 "At the Restaurant", answer 7

As they're special patrons of the restaurant, they always get a good table.

Correct answer: (c) patrons

Your answer was: incorrect
As they're special customers of the restaurant, they always get a good table.
_________________________

Dear
why the answer not customer

[Alan]

Customers would refer to people in a shop but in a restaurant where the service is more personal, patrons is the best word.
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[topo]

[Alan]

Hi Topo,

Patrons would not only be used in the case of restaurants. It is someone who regularly uses the service offered and could be used for people who always go to a particular shop or use a particular business or firm. Incidentally a patron is also someone who gives financial support to an insitution.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Oleda]

It is not perfectly clear to me why "patrons" and not "customers"? Is it always the same? If someone usually goes only to a particular place every time, he/she is called a "patron" or if he/she often goes there? And then, a customer is someone who goes to a lot of places?

[Yankee]

.
As I see it, the word "customer" is also perfectly acceptable in this test sentence. Thus, I would suggest replacing the word "customer" with a different distractor -- one that is actually incorrect. Or, alternatively, both options could be reprogrammed as "correct" choices.

Definitions of "patron"
(from Cambridge):
"a person who uses a particular shop, restaurant, hotel, etc., especially regularly; a customer"
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=58103&dict=CALD
(from Webster's):
"a regular customer, as of a store"
http://www.yourdictionary.com/patron

Definitions of "customer"
(from Cambridge):
"a person who buys goods or a service"
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=19144&dict=CALD
(from Webster's):
"a person who buys, esp. one who buys from, or patronizes, an establishment regularly"
(from the Random House Dictionary):
a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=customer&r=66

.
I am not attempting to be patronizing here. ;)
I am simply stating what I see as factual information, as well as a clear need for some test repair here.
.
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Kepilik]

hi yankee
i think you are right at this situation. i made that mistake when i first took this test. they should change the "customer" distractor

[Emir]

This question is a bit more confusing and as Yankee suggests one of the choices should be removed otherwise there would be some doubts.

[Orchid1205]

Sorry, but I want to ask the mean of 'distractor'.

[Goodmahsa]

dear orchid1205
you can easily find the meaning of distractor in dictionaries.distractor means one of the wrong answers in a multiple-choice test which might takes your attention from what is true as in this test according to our friends' words, customers is distractor because it takes your attention from the correct choice which is patrons :)

[Goodmahsa]

oh just in order to prevent misunderstanding,I should add that all the other choices except the correct one are called distractor for example in this test a,b and d are distractors

[Orchid1205]

dear Goodmahsa

Thanks for your explanation. I found the meaning of distractor at www.longman.com but I couldn't find it. I only see the meaning of distract, so I didn't understand Yankee's explanation.

[Oleda]

Thank you, Yankee, for your reply!

[Nanucbe]

dis·tract·er also dis·trac·tor (d-strktr)
n.
One of the incorrect answers presented as a choice in a multiple-choice test.

It may not be found as 'distractor.' You may have to look it up as 'distracter.' Go here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/distracter Only the main webster dictionary has this and not the online one. Online Oxford and Cmabridge dictionaries do not have both. You have this entry ('Distractor'), in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. best of luck, nanucbe.