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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
As adjectives go, “small,” “medium” and “large” aren’t very exciting. So restaurant executives with menu-printing powers have gotten all cutesy and creative with the names of their sizes. Do you know your Grande from your Gulp?
Take the Quiz: Quirky Sizes
[When you're done, share your favorite oddly named size in the comments.]
Comments (14)
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My local pizza place has two sizes: Minor (20 oz) and Huge (32 oz). The cups look nearly identical. Not sure where they got those names. Minor isnt minor and Huge isn’t huge.
posted by ashley on 11-24-2008 at 12:24 pm
The word of the day around here is officially panormous.
posted by adrienne on 11-24-2008 at 12:26 pm
The washers at my dorm have annoyed me for a while. The load sizes let you select mini, small, medium and extra large. GAH!
posted by Ben E. on 11-24-2008 at 12:36 pm
8 of 10. Fun quiz — the Jamba Juice sizes are the most confounding.
A pretentious little coffee shop around the corner from me has named their sizes after words that don’t have anything to do with measurement, like “violet” and “tranquility” and “zen.” I’ve only been there once. When I ordered a “large coffee” they corrected me (”You mean a Zen-size?”)
posted by Fletcher on 11-24-2008 at 12:46 pm
80% for me… yay!
A local BBQ joint in my hometown serves a hamburger they call the Mervburger. It comes in four sizes:
Kiddy: quarter lb
Sissy: third of a lb
Merv Jr.: half lb
Merv: three quarter lb
http://www.mervburger.com
posted by Jason! on 11-24-2008 at 4:44 pm
I’d love to hear someone order a Sissyburger at Merv’s! pretty funny…
posted by D on 11-24-2008 at 5:14 pm
yay! my first mental floss 100! i am too excited.
posted by sd on 11-24-2008 at 5:54 pm
A coffee place I went to once named their sizes after the owners of the shop. A small was an “Alice” a medium a “Michael” and a large was “Vincent.”
posted by Decca on 11-24-2008 at 6:27 pm
I’m in NZ and I don’t go to Starbucks or Pizza Hut, BK doesn’t use sizing like that here either. So I completely failed. Only one I got right was number 9, Capitol Grounds, I got it by guessing and common sense.
:[
posted by Ms Constantine on 11-24-2008 at 7:12 pm
Outside of Coeur d’Alene, ID there’s a restuarant called the Wolf Lodge Inn. Their steaks come in Lil Dude (16 oz), Cowgirl (20 oz), Cowboy (32 oz), and Ranher (42 oz). You can also order a Sweetheart which is like 34 oz or so to share with your honey. They cook over open flame in the restaurant–in the dining room. Those crazy Idahoans!
posted by Heather on 11-24-2008 at 11:24 pm
I knew the answer to Pizza Hut’s question had to be panormous! It’s just so like them to make words like that.
posted by Ryan on 11-25-2008 at 1:29 am
I kind of find “quirky” size names annoying, to the point where I purposely order by conventional sizes (Small, Medium, Large) at Starbucks. To their credit, the folks there never miss a beat and convert it into Starbucks-ese without any difficulty or complaints.
posted by Ewen on 12-3-2008 at 2:07 pm
I was amazed and quite pleasantly surprised to see Capitol Grounds in here! How strange to see a little coffee shop from my hometown among all the corporate chains. Good one, Mental Floss!
But… if you happen to be in Montpelier VT, skip Capitol Grounds and go one block over the river to the Langdon Street Cafe. The food is better, the drinks are more original, and there are far fewer yuppy snobs to glare at you if you dare to be wearing anything that isn’t a suit and tie.
posted by Vermonter on 12-8-2008 at 11:26 pm
I second Vermonter in my surprise to see a hometown chain, Isaac’s Deli, among the more common chains. It’s only in and around Lancaster county, PA and doesn’t seem to be branching out any time soon. Kudos for recognizing the little people Mentalfloss!
posted by Sarah on 4-13-2009 at 6:27 pm