A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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“Shout out to ATM fees for making me buy my own money” (3/27)
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Entry from October 07, 2013
Starbuckese or Starbucksese (language of Starbucks)

“Starbuckese” (or the less-frequently used “Starbucksese”) is the language used by the coffeehouse chain Starbucks. “Starbuck-ese” has been cited in print since at least 1994 and “Starbucksese” since at least 2001.
 
   
Wikipedia: Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American global coffee company and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 20,891 stores in 62 countries, including 13,279 in the United States, 1,324 in Canada, 989 in Japan, 851 in the People’s Republic of China, 806 in the United Kingdom, 556 in South Korea, 377 in Mexico, 291 in Taiwan, 206 in the Philippines, 179 in Turkey, 171 in Thailand, and 167 in Germany. In addition, Starbucks is an active member of the World Cocoa Foundation.
 
10 July 1994, Boston (MA) Herald, “Downtown Journal: There is a whole new coffee klatch brewing…”:
(“Short” is Starbuck-ese for small.)   
 
9 October 1997, Austin (TX) American-Statesman, “Up Front” by Melvis Sheehan, pg. 5:
Like people come in here speaking Starbuckese asking for a “half caf, skinny ‘cino.”
 
Google Books
COM and the Battle for the Middle Tier
By Roger Sessions
New York, NY: Wiley
2000
Pg. ?:
Prominently displayed was a large red sign with the dire waming: “No Starbuckese spoken here!” I went into a panic. Is “Doppio Macchiato” a universal concept, or is it “Starbuckese”?
 
Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer
Starbucks dropped the ball in New York
By ROBERT L. JAMIESON JR., SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
Updated 10:00 pm, Monday, September 24, 2001
(...)
Gee, what Starbucks did for its “partners”—that’s Starbucks-ese for employees—was nice, but certainly not something worthy of tooting its own horn about.
 
I Laugh, Therefore, I AM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2006
I speak “Starbuckese”
Just before hopping on the train to work the other day, I popped in to one of the many neighborhood Starbuck’s and placed my order.

“I’ll have a Venti half-caf redeye, no room, please.”
 
A Cup of Joe
March 1, 2011
Starbuckese…
My daughter is an employee of Starbucks. I came to the realization that Starbucks was taking over the world three years ago when I was in Washington D.C. I walked out of a Starbucks, looked across the street and saw…you guessed it…a Starbucks!
 
One thing I’ve learned about Starbucks is that they have their own language. I call it “Starbuckese.” They use the terms Tall (English for, well you probably can figure this out on your own), Grande (Spanish for really big), and Venti (Italian for 20…which is coincidentally the number of ounces of this drink). Don’t ask me why they mix their languages in their insider code, because I don’t know…I just guess they have their reasons.
     
Vimeo
YouTube
Starbuckese - The Language of Starbucks
from Eric Blumer PLUS 1 month ago
Shot, Edited, Produced by Eric W. Blumer KCNC TV Denver with the permission and cooperation of Starbucks. Thanks! This is when Starbucks was growing and customers were learning how to order their drinks.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityRestaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores • Monday, October 07, 2013 • Permalink


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