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As someone who's worked in a Starbucks, they definitely get the points about not forcing jargon and remembering repeat customers; both were mentioned directly in training.

I like to spin jargon as a teaching opportunity: "Did you know that we call the large cup a 'venti' because venti is italian for 20, and the cup holds 20 ounces of coffee?" Now the customer feels like they've learned something about how we make coffee, will use our fancy jargon, and might even tell all their friends that we taught them a snippet of Italian.




I suspect cultural differences here; if a kindly barrista took the time to explain why their drinks were obscurely named, I'd take the time to courteously explain why this is broken, and why I wouldn't be returning.

Grumpy, I know. I just loathe obfuscation for the sake of marketing. Guaranteed to mean I'll avoid that store. And no, I don't use Starbucks.


Why is trenta 31?


Maybe they're being generous. Or it is supposed to be 32oz and they are skimping on their portions, like cans that contain 7.5oz instead of a round 8.


Apparently the venti coffee cup is 20oz but then they launched a large cold drink cup of 24oz which they also called venti and then a larger 31oz cup which they called trenta. I blame the marketing department.


Can confirm, the cold Venti is slightly bigger (most likely to account for ice).


So if I order my next iced chai without ice I will get more? :)


I...thought it was 30. It's labeled as 30.

Huh. The more you know.




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