# Reese's Peanut Butter Cups question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 27, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699 "2014-10-27T23:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/41 "2014-10-28T10:53:42Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > Yeah, and the moment it becomes normal to eat the cardboard inserts in addition to the cup-shaped chocolates, you can call them candy bars, dammit. You mean it’s not? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/42 "2014-10-28T11:24:30Z")
I don’t consider it a candy bar because it’s not candy - it’s chocolate. If it were bar-shaped, it would be a chocolate bar. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/43 "2014-10-28T11:32:02Z")
You know, I sense a war brewing here, and surprisingly, the lines are not divided by chocolate or peanut butter. _poof_ [mind blown] ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/44 "2014-10-28T11:50:24Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I don’t disagree with any of this, but the OP asked a very specific question, which in my opinion requires a very specific answer,. > Just like: Do you consider a tomato a vegetable? No > > However, if I asked the grocer: Where are your vegetable? I’d expect to find tomatoes there as well. Tomatoes are vegetables. I’m not aware of any botanical definition of the word vegetable. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/45 "2014-10-28T12:10:08Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t consider it a candy bar because it’s not candy - it’s chocolate. If it were bar-shaped, it would be a chocolate bar. Chocolate in candy form (that is, not a powder or a beverage) is candy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/46 "2014-10-28T12:22:42Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Tomatoes are vegetables. And why does tomato get singled out? Many vegetables are technically fruits besides the tomato. Like peppers, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, okra, eggplant, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/47 "2014-10-28T12:28:00Z")
It’s peanut butter pie with a chocolate crust. Dang, now I’m all hungry… ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/48 "2014-10-28T13:41:34Z")
Of course it’s a candy bar. Why the hell do you care what exact shape it is? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/49 "2014-10-28T14:35:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And why does tomato get singled out? Many vegetables are technically fruits besides the tomato. Like peppers, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, okra, eggplant, etc. Exactly. That’s what I tell people who trot out the old “tomatoes aren’t vegetables” line. It’s like saying “Carrots aren’t vegetables, they’re roots!” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/50 "2014-10-28T14:35:16Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Of course it’s a candy bar. Why the hell do you care what exact shape it is? Because that’s kind of what makes a candy bar a candy bar. Otherwise, might as well call peanut butter chocolate truffles candy bars. They’re more like Reeses than a regular candy bar is (in my opinion.) Part of what makes a candy bar nice and useful is that you can roll down the wrapper, and eat it with one hand, pushing along as necessary. It’s a functional difference. For example, I can be in my car and chomp along on a candy bar while still keeping one hand on the wheel. I can’t do that easily (or at all) with a Reese’s. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/51 "2014-10-28T14:47:30Z")
it is a candy. it is not a bar (uniform cross-section smaller than its length). it is a candy conical section. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/52 "2014-10-28T14:52:05Z")
This is bizarre. Never in my life would I ever consider peanut butter cups to be a bar, because it’s \*\*not \*\*a bar. It’s a cup. So bizarre. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/53 "2014-10-28T15:19:50Z")
to-MAY-to to-MAH-to Its a candy bar. “A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet” If I think about getting a candy bar while I am filling up my car with gasoline, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is near or at the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/54 "2014-10-28T15:20:29Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > No, but it’s delicious, so I don’t really care what everyone calls it. 😃 This, with one caveat; it is pronounced REE_sez_, so as to rhyme with _pieces_. Hence, _Reese’s Pieces_. NOT REE_seez_, so as to rhyme with feces. You can call it a candy bar, a disk like confection, or any damned thing else that tickles your fancy, but for the love of sweet chocolate, do not say _Reesy’s_:mad: ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/55 "2014-10-28T15:23:37Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > This, with one caveat; it is pronounced REE_sez_, so as to rhyme with _pieces_. Hence, _Reese’s Pieces_. NOT REE_seez_, so as to rhyme with feces. > > You can call it a candy bar, a disk like confection, or any damned thing else that tickles your fancy, but for the love of sweet chocolate, do not say _Reesy’s_:mad: And since we’re (sorta) on the subject, the man’s name that sounds like “Reese” is spelled “Rhys”. Bloody illiterates! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/56 "2014-10-28T15:26:05Z")
What about Mallo Cups? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/57 "2014-10-28T15:31:32Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > And since we’re (sorta) on the subject, the man’s name that sounds like “Reese” is spelled “Rhys”. Bloody illiterates! I did not know that. Was he a Brit? ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/58 "2014-10-28T16:52:32Z")
This has been the most fascinating thread. A lot of “well, I get that it is not technically a candy bar, not being a bar and all, but I think I’ll call it a candy bar anyway because reasons.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/59 "2014-10-28T17:06:14Z")
I assume that’s the very reason for the OP, because it is a conundrum of sorts. I’ve never pondered it before, though I’ve always classified it in my mind as a candy bar. Mostly because of context, as others have mentioned, and also because it’s packaged and , um, selfcontained (?) the way a traditional candy bar is. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/60 "2014-10-28T17:20:14Z")
The issue is that some people are using candy bar to mean candy that is in bar form and others use candy bar to mean single serving retail unit of candy, or possibly dividing candy into candy pieces such as skittles, m&ms and necco wafers and everything else is a ‘candy bar’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699.md?page=4)