collective nouns

[Fiver]

Friends and I were talking about collective nouns, I own a coffee shop and we wondered what the correct collective noun was for a group of baristask, we decided on 'a grind'
what does everyone else think?

[Quizmonster]

Do you mean 'barristers'? If so, there have been many suggestions such as an eloquence, a murder (like crows!), a codicil, a huddle and an argument.

[Jay_Jay]

( Baristas, I think, QM, rather than barristers ). How about a troupe of baristas, Fiver ?

[Fiver]

As I own a coffee shop I should point out that a barista makes coffee!

[Octavius]

Did you know that Starbucks registered 'Barista' as a brand name of espresso coffee makers in 1997? Though technically referring to someone who has had professional training in coffee preparation, the term is often simply used to describe someone who excels at espresso making.

The usual plural is baristas, but in recognition of the Italian origin of barista, baristi is sometimes used, particularly by specialists in the coffee business.

I would plump for:
A press of baristi
A fistful of baristas
A barren of baristas

or you could get creative and go for something of your own along the lines of....

A jam of tarts
A flourish of strumpets
An anthology of English pros

[Quizmonster]

Well, welll, well! I had never seen the word until today and just assumed it to be a spelling mistake...for which I apologise. (Mind you, the 'k' at the end didn't help!)
In my defence, I must plead that I do not belong to the "caf� society" and all I can say is that The Oxford English Dictionary has clearly never heard if it either. Cheers

[Fiver]

I am pretty sure that Barista is of Italian origin so I wouldn't expect to find the word in the OED either tonyted!! tee hee. I doubt there are many foreign langauge words in the OED! Quizmonster get thine behind to a coffee bar and enjoy the 'third place'

[Quizmonster]

'Barista' is Italian and, in that language, means 'bartender'...or so says Chambers Dictionary. That has the advantage of TOED by virtue of its having been most recently published just three years ago. By the way, Fiver, TOED is awash with "foreign" words and will, no doubt, contain 'barista' when next produced.

PS After a major heart attack and the discovery that coffee makes the old ticker gallop, I don't - and, sadly, won't - touch the stuff. Cheers

[Octavius]

Well it�s not at all like the Americans to nick a word from Johnny Foreigner and call it their own is it?!

The attachment below shows that �barista� is/will be in the OED but probably defined as � �A bartender in an Italian or Italian-style bar. Also spec. (orig. U.S.): a person who makes and serves coffee in a coffee bar (the more frequent sense in English).�

Interesting supposition on the term deep throat in this attachment, which leads me to doubt the validity of the document.

http://www.askoxford.com/pressroom/archive/new _words