baristo

From barista (“bartender”), the -a having been interpreted as the Italian feminine singular ending -a, and then substituted with the masculine singular ending -o to specify a masculine, rather than feminine, agent noun.

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɹɪstəʊ/

baristo (plural baristi or baristos)

1. (nonstandard, hypercorrect) A specifically male barista.
   • 2002, Business week, McGraw-Hill, Inc, page 102:

     Starbucks also faces slumping morale and employee burnout among its store managers and its once-cheery army of baristos.

   • 2003, Philip Edward Baruth, The X President: a novel, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 65, →ISBN:

     On the other side of me a table holds several tureens of brewed coffee; additionally, a small man in a white coat stands beside a cappuccino maker. He is the official baristo of this White House coffee.

   • 2006: The Economist, volume 381, page 16 (Economist Newspaper Ltd.)

     SIR —
     As a Starbucks baristo, I was pleased to read your even-handed treatment of the Ethiopian trademarking controversy.

   • 2006, Rachel Sarah, Single Mom Seeking: Playdates, Blind Dates, and Other Dispatches from the Dating World, Seal Press, →ISBN, page 111, →ISBN:

     I walk over to Feet’s Coffee & Tea on Vine Street and tell the young #baristo, “My daughter started preschool today.” He gives me a coffee on the house.

   • 2006, Rebecca Agiewich, BreakupBabe: a novel, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 50, →ISBN:

     The cute baristo. He’d somehow slipped in unnoticed again, and was now behind the counter in a sky blue T-shirt […]

   • 2008, Jennifer Stevenson, The Velvet Chair, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 71, →ISBN:

     At the door, the baristo from Starbucks peeked in. His lime green hair seemed to stick straight up when he saw Jewel. “I brought you another latte. […] ”