When Starbucks started out, the sizes were Short, Tall, and Grande. But Americans, being the horrific pig-mouthed dietary garbage disposals that they are, demanded an even large size, so they came up with the “Venti” - or “Twenty,” as in 20 oz. Eventually so few customers bothered with the short, in their insatiable greed for larger sizes, that the company essentially removed it from the menu.