Where Does Kudos Go?

I heard an interesting story the other day about where kudos comes from.  

“How would you spell ‘kudos’?” someone asked.  I was both on the spot and the defence.  It wasn’t a question – it was a challenge.  If I didn’t get this right she would forever doubt my credibility as a writer.

“c-u-d-o-s” I ventured.  “That’s what I would also have thought,” came the gracious response - a softened blow.  She then went on to explain that kudos is the Greek word for praise, pronounced “cue-doss” and not “koo-doze” which is the Americanisation of the poor noun. Also be sure to always add the s at the end, as the Greek suffix os already indicates singular form.

So now we know where kudos comes from.  But perhaps a more important question is “Where does it go?”.

It’s a fashionable response when commenting on a job well done and is sometimes incorrectly used as a thank you, but seems to suffice as a general expression of approval.  But what if the kudos belonged to someone who rendered a really exceptional service?  Such as unlocking the house next door, where your cat got stuck, as if it were a matter of life and death? Or advising you, free of charge, not to make use of his services to install an additional line, but to simply buy a new PVR decoder? What if you want to do something beyond talk for someone who really deserves more business than the unhelpful and expensive name you see advertised all over the show?  That big brand which leaves you feeling that you could have gotten more for your money – even if it was just friendliness.

I recently came to hear of just such a home for kudos – Ledula.  It’s an online referrals site for home service providers – that’s plumbers, electricians, builders, interior decorators, renovators, etc.  It works on the principle that you’re more likely to get good service from someone your Facebook friends (and theirs) trusted to do the same thing, than you would from the first name that popped up on your Google search.  

If you made use of someone you really want to give some kudos, you can add their details to your database of home service providers via the Ledula Facebook app.  Once verified by the Ledula team and consented to by the pleasantly surprised service provider, their details are made visible to your friends and your friends’ friends who have also registered on Ledula.

It means that, next time the no-can-do lady; or more business minded man need to get their hands dirty on a job at home, they can consult a database of service providers trusted by like-minded  and at the very least real-life people.  If they did a good job – great!  Go add to their kudos by giving them a star rating.  If they did a rotten job and you always suspected that friend’s friend who advised them was a bird from another feather, you simply don’t give them a star rating.  

At the end of the day bad service providers will have a lot less golden stars on their foreheads and it will be plain to see who the best men for the job are, without having to revert to badly worded rants punctuated but swearwords and the ever popular Hello Peter threats.  And let’s be honest, who sets out on a new project thinking “I need to find out who NOT to use in order to get the best work done”?  Probably someone who’s judgement you don’t trust, that’s who!

So why register for yet another online spam machine, the emails of which you’ll mark as read as soon as they come in?

Don’t.  Please don’t!  

Ledula promises not to spam your inbox or even your news feed – it’s a service you need to be aware of for the day you need it.  That’s it.  Also, the promotions and useful give-aways can’t do any harm.  The point is to have a network of home service providers you can trust because your friends liked their work.  Details are at your fingertips and you know where their kudos goes.

The next time you need to get your home maintenance or renovations done, look up your database of trusted providers on www.ledula.com ...  

And luckily you know where my kudos goes for telling you about this – it’s a button on My Facebook Page with “Like” written all over it.