AUL

1 00

Sizing Things Up To The Nth Degree

D

espite claims to the opposite, size does matter. It
matters because throughout society today, from
clothing to beverages, there is such a variance of
sizes and much confusion. In some instances, the labels are
newly minted words, which only compound the confusion.
Start with a rather simple intensification: the word "unique:'
By definition, it means having no like or equal.
Why, then, will we see an item described as "truly
unique"? It either is or is not; there is no degree
involved.
Not being satisfied with the standard words,
someone coined "humongous," which the diction-
ary indicates is a merger of huge and monstrous.
Hoping for the same fate (recognition for
validity), some speakers are pushing "ginor-
mous" (gigantic and enormous?). I hear it but I
don't buy it ... yet.
Then there is sizing in clothes. Men's fashions
do not suffer as much in this category: Waist sizes
are measured and not easily argued. Of course,
you can try squeezing into something smaller;
but the inches are still there. Believe me, I know!
Women's fashions, however, are a different story. This field
introduces us to what is known as vanity sizing. Clothing
manufacturers are making clothing bigger so that buyers think

they are buying smaller sizes. Some women today have such
a variety of sizes in their closets it is no wonder that they are
confused when shopping — and I am not talking about hav-
ing "fat sizes" or "thin sizes" depending on the latest diets.
When it comes to beverages, we know that there is a differ-
ence between "American" measures and metric measures.
The current plethora of coffee shops has intro-
duced us to a whole new measuring system. A small
drink is now a thing of the past; medium seems to
be the new small.
Then we find large (the new medium), extra-large
and jumbo. The latter is especially true in buying
beverages in movie theaters — if you are one of the
lucky ones who can afford to do so.
More than one writer on the Internet has com-
mented on a well-known coffee franchise that uses
the following size chart: tall (which is large), grande
(which is extra large?), and venti (which is Italian
for 20, so I guess it is a 20-ounce drink).
Perhaps the new measuring scale should be as
follows: fine, diminutive, tiny, small, medium, large,
huge, gargantuan and colossal.
Well, I take satisfaction in knowing that with my
readership, it is the quality of the work and not the size that
matters.

JN CONTENTS

JEWISHNEWS

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June 27-July 3, 2013 I 19-26 Tammuz 5773 I Vol. CXLIII, No. 21

Ann Arbor
Around Town
Arts/Entertainment ..
Calendar
Food
Health & Wellness ...
Israel
42,
Letters
Life Cycles
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Metro
Next Generation

23
24
49
26
58
45
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5
65
67
8
62

Obituaries
75
Points Of View
41
Red Thread
29
Sports
48
Staff Box/Phone List ...6
44
Synagogue List
Torah Portion
43
World
74

Columnist

Danny Raskin

60

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Weightism

n. Prejudice an
discrimination
overweight an
people.

nst
se

The National Eating
Disorder Association
reports that 42% of fir
to third grade girls want
to be thinner. this is not
okay. The first step in
challenging weightism i
to ask yorself,

"How do I feel when I
interact with people of
different body sizes?"

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Yehudah calendar.

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