I started a new job recently. This came with the usual changes – new office, new policies, processes, people – but one of the peripheral changes is a new set of coffee and lunch options. Tully’s is the coffee spot on my new block. The other day, I stopped in for the first time and joined the queue. I was listening to my iPod and engrossed in a magazine article, so when my turn came, I hadn’t looked at the menu at all.
“What can I get you?” the woman behind the counter repeated.
“Uh… just a coffee. Medium I guess.”
“You mean ‘grande?'”
“Uh,” I squint up at the menu, “yeah, grande I guess.”
I have a problem with this. What’s wrong with English? Small, medium, large? And doesn’t ‘grande’ mean large? So why is ‘grande’ the medium size? And what about ‘tall?’ Tall is small? Is ‘tall’ an Italian word too?