# Does anyone else hate the name "Cafe Society"? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 1, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304 "2001-09-01T17:19:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/21 "2001-09-02T23:12:36Z")
i also like artsy fartsy. it has a hhhhmmm, what is that french phrase again? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2001, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/22 "2001-09-02T23:29:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rocking chair \* > \*\*i also like artsy fartsy. it has a hhhhmmm, what is that french phrase again? \*\* Je ne sais quois. No…I really don’t know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/23 "2001-09-03T00:02:25Z")
_I_ pronounce it “TaTerToTS”, Chronos. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/24 "2001-09-03T01:46:45Z")
Starbucks?! The name **Cafe Society** was selected only after long and arduous debate which also yielded the perfected recipe for the Ultimate Margarita, that poor damned goat…umm… and the bail bondsman…never mind the details right now. The name harkens back to twonky, decadent French cafe society. You know, passionate folks sipping vin rouge or cafe noir in atmospheric dives, venues so gritty and bohemian where Art found a true home. Gertrude Stein. Hemingway. Sartre. Simone de Beauvoir. Jospehine Baker. Eisenstadt. Picasso. Hell, descendents of this crowd argued hammer and tongs for _Jerry Lewis_ as a genius. What better tradition could we invoke for intelligent, crosswise, opinionated give-and-take on contemporary culture? The arts are still thriving, damnitall. Plastic corporate inanities haven’t totally usurped the cafe tradition. Put DOWN your tall cinnamon Sumatran decaf latte (no foam). We’ve lighted the way. Absently batting beret sliding over one eye, Veb P.S. Donations for the bail bondsman…oh, heck. We’ll cover it. And the goat is recovering nicely. P.P.S. The Perfect Margarita does not include absinthe. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/25 "2001-09-03T02:06:33Z")
And then there was the **Cafe Society** in the Village, as described [here](http://www.computan.com/~fusco/fct/CafeSociety.html) Maybe this is the place after all… ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/26 "2001-09-03T04:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > The name **Cafe Society** was selected only after long and arduous debate which also yielded the perfected recipe for the Ultimate Margarita, that poor damned goat…umm… and the bail bondsman…never mind the details right now. I think we should let that poor goat rest in piece, after all it’s been through. I don’t know **what** we’re gonna use now when we add new moderators. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/27 "2001-09-03T04:43:51Z")
I hear that ferrets are in fashion. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/28 "2001-09-03T06:05:54Z")
“Cafe Society”, no. I suggest we call it “Land of Foobyspit and Trufflebumps”. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/29 "2001-09-03T12:51:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \* > \*\*I’m with **k2dave**. I held back posting to the **Bill H** thread until I gave that forum a chance. > > Well, I’ve given that forum a chance and even now I can’t even get past the name of it. “Cafe Society”. Every time I see that I immediately think ::Starbucks… STARBUCKS!!:: > > Those damn places are _everywhere_ now. > > I haven’t been in there, or Starbucks, yet… those places scare me. \*\* [hijack] Just reading _The Thieves’ Opera_ about 17thC London, and it mentions that coffee houses were often places where one could enjoy some \ “female companionship”. In particular, it says that coffeehouses sporting “The Sign of the Star” were home to “every lewd practice”. Something to consider the next time you order a tall skinny mocha…[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/30 "2001-09-03T19:34:57Z")
Why don’t you just call it **It**? Everybody has to figure out what belongs in **It** from the context, but eventually they’ll get **It**. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/31 "2001-09-03T23:28:28Z")
thanks, fireunderpantsboobs. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/32 "2001-09-03T23:43:12Z")
Actually curious, I have a Websters dictionary & it has such an entry: "Main Entry:cafe society Function:noun Date:1937 : society of persons who are regular patrons of fashionable cafes Only thing is, is that the board doesn’t put that silly little slanted mark-accent above ‘e’ to give it the proper written look. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/33 "2001-09-03T23:48:13Z")
**handy** My M-W Collegiate says that it is ok to write it either way. What does you dic say? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/34 "2001-09-04T14:34:35Z")
sam, it doesn’t give a choice. However, it gives it with the mark when you find it in the dictionary. It’s not even an english word, right? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/35 "2001-09-04T19:46:50Z")
Cafe Sociéty. Happy now, **handy**? And what language is “Sociéty” if it isn’t English? ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/36 "2001-09-05T17:52:41Z")
**samclem** : > [@](#): > > **handy** My M-W Collegiate says that it is ok to write it either way. What does you dic say? That’s a highly personal question. I too am puzzled as to why an elite star-chamber of mods chose this name in the rarefied air of a hidden forum, without consulting the lumpy proletariat who will actually be using the forum. “Cafe Society” is an inferior name. I second the notion of **TTTS** , to be referred to as “Tater Tots.” ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/37 "2001-09-06T20:28:36Z")
I’m sorry, Fiver, I cannot support you in your quest to rename “Cafe Society”. Even though tater tots **are** the food of the gods, [someone](http://www.geocities.com/sdpeoplepages/tatertot.html) might just get a swelled head. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/38 "2001-09-07T14:38:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVeblen \* > \*\* > The name harkens back to twonky, decadent French cafe society. You know, passionate folks sipping vin rouge or cafe noir in atmospheric dives, venues so gritty and bohemian where Art found a true home. Gertrude Stein. Hemingway. Sartre. Simone de Beauvoir. Jospehine Baker. Eisenstadt. Picasso. \*\* Jeez, if that was the goal why not just call it **Drunk Deviants Discuss Art** or something? Gotta admit, I ain’t wild about it either. I’d have preferred something with a lighter sensibility. Maybe a little geeky, too. We’ve already got MPSIMS and IMHO, those are both sorta board-speak. We could come up with something like that? How about **DAIBISP**? It could stand for: Dressed All In Black I Speak Pretentiously ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/39 "2001-09-07T21:45:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Kaffee Klatchen How wide spread is this term? And what does it mean? Someone said this way up there and I think I may have just got a Pratchett joke. I will explain after I get an answer. –John ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304/40 "2001-09-08T12:26:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Kaffee Klatchen > How wide spread is this term? And what does it mean? I’ve seen it as “coffee klatsch,” and it just means a casual get-together for drinking coffee and talking. I think this term may have been more widely used, say, twenty years ago than it is now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-hate-the-name-cafe-society/79304.md?page=3)