[originaltext] The word downsizing, both an excuse and not a very happy euph

The word downsizing, both an excuse and not a very happy euphemism for firing people, needs, I have decided, a mate: upsizing. The country seems to be in a serious upsizing phase. When and where and how it began, I don’t pretend to know, but I have a lurking -- as opposed to a somersaulting -- suspicion that it may have begun with the naming of the size of cups at Starbuck’s.
    A Dunkin’ Donuts man, I don’t often go into Starbuck’s. But when I used to frequent the joint, I found myself charmed with the comedy of the language of ordering, all that decaf, double-espresso, steamed, skimmed, mocha, cappu-frappo-Americano, and the rest of it. But what I couldn’t get my (admittedly) literal mind around was the naming of the size of Starbuek’s cups. A small cup at Starbuck’s is known as a tall, a middle-size cup is a grande, and a large cup is a venti, the Italian word for twenty, which must stand for twenty ounces. Let’s go through this again: a small is a tall, a medium is a grande, a large is a venti. Got it? If so, perhaps someday you will explain it to me.