Dear Miss Manners: When you treat someone to a cup of coffee

[lilysea]

Dear Miss Manners: When you treat someone to a cup of coffee at an expensive coffee shop, should they choose a smaller size?

Answer: Ah, but which is the smaller size? In today’s cutesy coffee shops, it is unlikely to be called “piccolo.’’
“Order from the middle of the menu,’’ nice ladies were taught, back when gentlemen always paid the bills. But Miss Manners realizes that this would be challenging in a shop that uses pseudo-Italian nomenclature, or where “jumbo’’ might be the most modest choice.

She suggests that a frugal host order preemptively by saying, “We’ll have two mezzos’’ (or whatever they are called), and then graciously inquiring of the guest, “How do you take yours?’’

Comments

[kutsuwamushi]

Honestly, if I was broke enough that I'd be willing to treat someone to a tall but not to a venti, I don't think I'd be treating someone at all. That's kind of like.... "I am concerned about whether I can afford tonight's beans and rice" territory.

[lunabee34]

Yep. That's exactly my feelings.

[jadelennox]

or I would say "hey, do you want to come over for coffee?" or "hey, do you want to meet at the coffee shop? we can get ourselves coffees!"