# With only two sizes, how can one be a medium? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635 "2015-10-14T15:33:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/21 "2015-10-15T14:44:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > My assumption would be that at one point they had a small and discontinued it, so for purposes of consistency, left the names the same on the other sizes. It would seem to me to be less confusing to do it that way if I were a regular customer than redefining the amount of coffee in a small. You’re almost certainly correct. But what’s fun is to think about what the retail world looks like a hundred years from now after this maneuver has been done repeatedly. Marketers being what they are (i.e. scum) you know this process will get iterated. So eventually sodas come in 3 sizes named “gargantuan”, “incredi-collosal”, and “galactic”. Somewhere along the way, “ginourmous” went from being the latest biggest one, to the middle, to the smallest, to being too small to sell. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/22 "2015-10-16T02:50:18Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Ease up already. He’s just Ventiing. I almost missed this one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/23 "2015-10-16T03:42:24Z")
I wasn’t thinking and just ordered “Just a Regular fountain soda” at a local hoagie shop. “Uhh, that’ll be $2.69.” Whaa? I looked up from my wallet to see a cup the size of a tall flower pot. Its gaping blank maw echoed the underage sub mechanic’s vacant stare: “Uh umm, our Regular is the Extra-Large.” I do wish I could raise an eyebrow, but I must have achieved the same merely by looking askance, because he quickly replaced it with the only other size – the 20 oz “Medium” cup. And, I keep hoping the OP will stop back and explain what this means (unless someone else knows): > [@](#): > > …had a fit of McPica yesterday ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/24 "2015-10-16T03:50:24Z")
It could be worse! They could have [extra medium](http://www.lightmyfire.com/products/products/spork/spork-extra-medium.aspx)! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/25 "2015-10-16T04:06:00Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And, I keep hoping the OP will stop back and explain what this means (unless someone else knows): That was just me trying to be funny (in my way). Per Wiki: Pica is an eating disorder characterized by an appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/26 "2015-10-16T04:10:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > That was just me trying to be funny (in my way). Per Wiki: Pica is an eating disorder characterized by an appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive. Ahhh, that IS funny (in your way). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/27 "2015-10-16T22:58:21Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > In cases like this, “Medium” is a synonym for “Regular”. This is likely how Starbucks ended up with a Medium, Large, and Extra Large on their menu board. I dunno what Starbucks(es) you frequent, but I’ve never seen such decipherable wording on their signage. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/28 "2015-10-17T03:39:29Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I dunno what Starbucks(es) you frequent, but I’ve never seen such decipherable wording on their signage. Exactly. At Starbucks you have to learn their vocabulary. I don’t frequent much, but I remember a tall and a grande, I believe. Fortunately they have visuals at the counter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/29 "2015-10-17T12:53:11Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I dunno what Starbucks(es) you frequent, but I’ve never seen such decipherable wording on their signage. True. But McBucks’ chosen words are “Medium”, “Large”, & “Extra Large” in pidgin Italian. It’s hucksterism, but at least it’s \*pretentious \*hucksterism. As Mrs. Olsen might say: that’s the richest kind. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/30 "2015-10-17T21:35:11Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Exactly. At Starbucks you have to learn their vocabulary. I don’t frequent much, but I remember a tall and a grande, I believe. Fortunately they have visuals at the counter. Not at any Starbucks I’ve been to. I’ve never ordered anything but a small, medium, or large there and I get what I ordered without any issues or pushback. ---
**Author:** ![northporlarbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@northporlarbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/northporlarbear)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/31 "2015-10-17T21:47:07Z")
It’s a hypothetical medium as in “not that smaller than large”. Or they compare to other people’s medium size. Or they had 3 different sizes but discarded the small size. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635/32 "2015-10-17T23:21:25Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Not at any Starbucks I’ve been to. I’ve never ordered anything but a small, medium, or large there and I get what I ordered without any issues or pushback. You might be able to ORDER a small medium large, but that’s NOT what they have written on their signs, which was my point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-only-two-sizes-how-can-one-be-a-medium/734635.md?page=1)