I’m just going to leave this here

'Latte' is just that: plain milk. If you want the American version of latte, you should order un cappuccino chiaro, a light cappuccino. And only for breakfast, it's considered inadequate at any other time.

Only tourists order cappuccino after a meal, for example.

Starbucks will never arrive in Italy, I am afraid.

"it's considered inadequate at any other time"

Apparently not by the tourists who order it after meals.

I wrote the same above ;).

Same happend to a friend when we were travelling in Pulgia.
She ordered latte and myself an espresso. I got a cup of coffee and she got a glass of hot milk.
That made her furious. I tried to calm her down saying that she got what she ordered.
She still thought it was a bad joke.

I had a friend in the Peace Corps who was sent to Colombia, after an intensive Spanish course. One of the first things he did on arrival was order a cup of coffee. I forget what word he used for "cup." The waitress was puzzled and kept asking him if that was what he really wanted and he kept insisting that yes, he did. So she brought it to him.

That's when he learned that the word he's used for "cup," meant "soup bowl" in that part of Colombia.

"Starbucks will never arrive in Italy, I am afraid" HURRAH HURRAH HURRAH - the worst place I ever had coffee in.

That's when he learned that the word he's used for "cup," meant "soup bowl" in that part of Colombia.

Yes, taza can mean cup or bowl. Most people wouldn't order "una taza de cafe," though; they'd ask for "un cafe" or "un cafecito," the latter usually served in an espresso cup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3--sqed82cY

I have nothing further.

the American version of latte

wonderful turn of phrase!