Another Random Language/Usage Question

[gnomi]

OK, you know that counter at Starbucks/Dunkin' Donuts/[insert your favorite coffee place here] at which you place your order and (eventually) your beverage-of-choice is handed to you? Is it the "service counter" or the "serving counter"?

Inquiring minds want to know ("I want to know!").

Comments

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

i've always heard "service counter"

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

(by the way, did you find me randomly, or through MAB's journal? Just wondering)

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

No Prob!

(through MAB. He was my physics teacher... I'm the Annie that showed up at Rashi yesterday at random with my brother in tow.)

~a

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. He was quite thrilled by the visit.

And welcome to the madness that is my mind. :-)

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

We were quite thrilled by the visit as well. it's always great to see old teachers...

thanks!

~a

[half-double.livejournal.com]

It's 'the counter.' You know - like, 'The Todd.' ;)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, so it hits on you and makes off-color comments? :-)

[half-double.livejournal.com]

Well, exactly. And if it doesn't, then clearly you have been hanging out at the wrong coffee shops.

[cellio]

If I have to choose one of those, it's "service" -- unless the counter in question has smart attachments to hand my food directly to me and maybe even thank me for my order afterwards, in which case I suppose it might be "serving", unless the owner thinks that degree of personification might lead to uppity robots.

But really, it didn't occur to me to qualify it beyond "the counter" until you brought it up.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I don't know why it occurred to me that it required additional qualification ("service/serving counter" vs. "counter"), but once it did, I was having a crisis of usage. I'm always glad to find that my friends are willing to pitch in and help out with my weird language musings.

And now I'm quite taken with the idea of a robotic serving counter. Something to hope for in the future (providing the robot is less obnoxious than some of the servers I've encountered).