# Glasses and cups - why is the mouth wider than the base **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887 "2002-12-31T16:38:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/1 "2002-12-31T16:38:43Z")
On almost every glass and cup I’ve ever used, the top had a wider diameter than the base. Why is this? Wouldn’t a larger base make the glass less prone to tipping over and spilling? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/2 "2002-12-31T16:46:40Z")
By having a wider top, the drinker does not have to bring the main axis of the glass past horizontal at any time. Reduces carpal tunnel? ---
**Author:** ![Kalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/3 "2002-12-31T16:48:48Z")
so yer nose fits in it when you sip, and probably for aesthetic reasons as well. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/4 "2002-12-31T17:00:25Z")
We have a couple of beer steins and a couple of coffee mugs with broad bases and narrow mouths. While they do tend to help retard the beer going flat or the coffee going cold, they are a real pain to wash. If the mouths are narrow enough, they can _only_ be scrubbed with a brush and it takes several cycles of scrubbing, rinsing, and peering into their dark recesses to be sure they are clean. (Wine glasses with narrow openings avoid some of the problems by being transparent, (so that one can see the parts that need cleaning), and being somewhat shallower, )so that a couple of fingers with a dishrag can reach the “tougher” spots).) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/5 "2002-12-31T17:02:56Z")
You’ll also note that _glass_ vessels generally have a section at the bottom that is solid, weighing the bottom in a way to make them more stable. Plastic cups do not generally have this feature of course. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/6 "2002-12-31T17:19:43Z")
I’m so glad you brought this up. I always thought I’d make a fortune with spill-proof wide bottomed glasses. Side note, you know those Coke glasses with the narrow bottom that flair bulbously as they go up to the mouth? My grandparents had a set of 7-Up glasses formed in an upside down version of that (since it’s “the un-cola”…younger dopers, ask your parents/older sibs). Those glasses couldn’t be knocked over with a wrecking ball. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/7 "2002-12-31T17:25:47Z")
They sell mugs which prevent spills but are a PITA to clean inside [http://www.boatus-store.com/browse/item.asp?IID=16646](http://www.boatus-store.com/browse/item.asp?IID=16646) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/8 "2002-12-31T17:35:07Z")
My experience with wide bottom glasses is that drinking the last bit is awkward. You tend to get a sudden rush of the last blob all at once if you are not careful. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/9 "2002-12-31T17:46:27Z")
The worst glasses I’ve ever drank from had both. They were from Red Lobster, and were supposedly “lighthouse shaped”. They Had a top that was about a centimetre and a half wider than the main stem (it was a sharp angle… it looked a bit like a barbell) and a smiliar setup at the bottom. This was totally useless, not only were they horrible to clean, whenever you pu the glass down, the liquid would drop in and send a several-inch-high group of droplets into the air. ---
**Author:** ![Chava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Chava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chava)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/10 "2002-12-31T17:53:51Z")
Glasses that are wider at the top are easier to hold onto. Cups have handles, so that’s less of an issue. We recently acquired two cups that are narrower at the top than at the bottom. When I tried to pick one up without using the handle I nearly dropped it. ---
**Author:** ![mudcrutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@mudcrutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudcrutch)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glasses-and-cups-why-is-the-mouth-wider-than-the-base/145887/11 "2002-12-31T19:48:47Z")
Maybe so you can stack them? I like **Chava’s** explanation. It seems that the only glasses in my cabinet that have survived are ones that get wider at the top or have a handle on them.