# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/61 "2014-10-28T17:21:03Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > 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.” Exactly. A “candy bar.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/62 "2014-10-28T17:22:58Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > 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.” Geometric vs Functional definitions ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/63 "2014-10-28T17:26:44Z")
Not candy, because peanut butter is not candy and it’s not a bar shape either. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are either entrees or appetizers, depending upon when they are served. Although, if we are going it insist that a candy bar be actually in a ‘bar’ shape then we are going to have to find new names for a lot of candy. Would a Payday be a candy bar? It’s more of a log shape to me. ---
**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, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/64 "2014-10-28T17:30:32Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Not candy, because peanut butter is not candy It wouldn’t be the only candy bar with peanuts or peanut butter in it. > [@](#): > > Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are either entrees or appetizers, depending upon when they are served. You can say that about any edible thing. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/65 "2014-10-28T17:35:35Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > Nailed it. It’s a rectangle, same as all the others. > > Is peppermint patty not a candy bar, either, since it’s a patty, not a bar? Peppermint Patty is obviously a character from Peanuts. Which is ironic because the candy involves no peanuts, just coconut. Is coconut a nut? Or a fruit? And what do you call those cacao things? Is chocolate a vegetable or a fruit? ---
**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, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/66 "2014-10-28T18:27:18Z")
Peppermint patty? Of course that’s not a candy bar. Madness, I tell you. For a brief period, sanity was winning this poll, but we’re back to the "yes"es taking the lead. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/67 "2014-10-28T18:57:16Z")
Yes, it’s a candy bar to me. In my personal lexicon, “candy bar” is a compound phrase. Whether or not something is a “candy bar” to me depends more on what it’s made of and what section it’s sold in, not the literal shape of the confection. ---
**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, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/68 "2014-10-28T19:06:25Z")
Does this mean that for those who feel a reeses cup is not a candy bar, if I softened a cup and smushed it into a rectangular shape, it would now be a candy bar? If I took a milky way and warmed it until I was able to shape it into a sphere, is it no longer a candy bar? Or is it a deformed candy bar? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/69 "2014-10-28T19:24:24Z")
If you solidify the peanut butter to give it rigidity, then mold it into a rectangular solid and coat it with chocolate, _then_ it would be a “candy bar.” The Milky Way would be a “deformed mass of candy.” As for the Payday example prior, it is still a “candy bar,” since bars can be cylindrical. Bars _cannot_, however, be cup-shaped. ---
**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, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/70 "2014-10-28T19:28:21Z")
Why does the peanut butter need to be solidified? It’s more solid than milky way or 3 musketeers filling. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/71 "2014-10-28T19:35:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > As for the Payday example prior, it is still a “candy bar,” since bars can be cylindrical. Is a peppermint stick a candy bar? ---
**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, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/72 "2014-10-28T19:36:22Z")
What about the reeses peanut butter eggs that come out around easter? Are those bars? ---
**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, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/73 "2014-10-28T19:46:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > As for the Payday example prior, it is still a “candy bar,” since bars can be cylindrical. > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Is a peppermint stick a candy bar? it is bar shaped. ---
**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, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/74 "2014-10-28T20:05:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If you solidify the peanut butter to give it rigidity, then mold it into a rectangular solid and coat it with chocolate, _then_ it would be a “candy bar.” > > The Milky Way would be a “deformed mass of candy.” > > As for the Payday example prior, it is still a “candy bar,” since bars can be cylindrical. Bars _cannot_, however, be cup-shaped. Exactly. Part of the point of a candy bar, as I mentioned above, is its convenience in eating. You can peel the wrapper back, hold it in one hand, and eat it as needed while doing another activity. Like the whole point of sandwich. Hold your sandwich in one hand, your cards in the other (okay, we might have a problem when playing a card. Then hold your sandwich/candy bar in one hand, the steering wheel in the other). You can do the same with a candy bar. You can’t do it easily with a Reese’s. It is not a candy bar in shape, nor utility. To me, the entire fucking point of a candy bar is that I can easily eat it one bite at a time, as needed, with one hand. ---
**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, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/75 "2014-10-28T20:11:52Z")
Ok, geeze. I’m just curious where people’s lines of demarcation are. ---
**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, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/76 "2014-10-28T20:18:16Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Ok, geeze. I’m just curious where people’s lines of demarcation are. I’m exaggerating for effect. Still, for my working definition, that is where and why I draw the line there. A candy bar is a snack of convenience, and eating a Reese’s is a little more finicky and (given that it’s not even shaped like a bar), it goes into the “other confectionary” category for me, like mini-chocolates or those Ferraro Rocher balls or truffles, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/77 "2014-10-28T20:27:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > To me, the entire fucking point of a candy bar is that I can easily eat it one bite at a time, as needed, with one hand. To you. I get that to you this is how it is. But language is not so easily defined. This poll is like something from a linguistics class, designed to spark just this kind of discussion. And it can spark this kind of discussion precisely because people have different usages of the term and therefore different opinions on whether this particular example qualifies. Its not about right or wrong if we’re talking linguistics, since linguistics is descriptive rather than prescriptive, like grammar or English language studies. So your opinion is perfectly valid, but so is everyone else’s. And right now the yes’s are winning, so maybe that should tell you something. ---
**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, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/78 "2014-10-28T20:30:20Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > To you. I get that to you this is how it is. But language is not so easily defined. This poll is like something from a linguistics class, designed to spark just this kind of discussion. And it can spark this kind of discussion precisely because people have different usages of the term and therefore different opinions on whether this particular example qualifies. Its not about right or wrong if we’re talking linguistics, since linguistics is descriptive rather than prescriptive, like grammar or English language studies. So your opinion is perfectly valid, but so is everyone else’s. And right now the yes’s are winning, so maybe that should tell you something. Yes, I know how linguistics works. I’m a descriptivist. I’m playing along a bit here. It’s pretty much evenly divided, which is, actually, pretty interesting to me. I would not have guessed it would be that down the middle. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/79 "2014-10-28T20:36:15Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > And right now the yes’s are winning, so maybe that should tell you something. As Will Rogers once noted: Sometimes the majority just means all the idiots are on the same side. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699/80 "2014-10-28T20:43:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Exactly. Part of the point of a candy bar, as I mentioned above, is its convenience in eating. You can peel the wrapper back, hold it in one hand, and eat it as needed while doing another activity. Like the whole point of sandwich. Hold your sandwich in one hand, your cards in the other (okay, we might have a problem when playing a card. Then hold your sandwich/candy bar in one hand, the steering wheel in the other). You can do the same with a candy bar. You can’t do it easily with a Reese’s. It is not a candy bar in shape, nor utility. To me, the entire fucking point of a candy bar is that I can easily eat it one bite at a time, as needed, with one hand. What about 100 Thousand Grand bars? Or Mounds or Almond Joys? They come two to a “bar”. Don’t they count as candy bars? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-question/702699.md?page=5)