Indies, East Indies, My cup of tea, The cups, take note

Before the Battles and the Protests, the Chains By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON Alabama's capital is dotted with markers commemorating aspects of the civil rights movement and the Civil War, but until now very few had taken note of the city's role in the slave trade.

take note

pay attention:employers should take note of the needs of disabled people

cup

• [kʌ'p]

[名]

1 カップ, 茶わん

a coffee cup
コーヒー茶わん（⇒TEACUP 1）

a cup and saucer
受け皿つきのカップ（▼発音は 〔kpnssr | -ss〕）.

▼「コップ」はglass.

2 茶わん1杯（の…）((of ...))；((米))《料理》カップ(cupful)((of ...)). ▼計量カップ1杯は通例1/2 pint(237ml)

a cup of tea ［coffee］
紅茶［コーヒー］1杯

an expensive cup of coffee
高価な1杯のコーヒー（▼「高価な」のはcupではなくcoffeeのほう；a hot cup of teaも「熱い」のはteaのほう）

drink ［((英))take］ two cups of tea
お茶を2杯飲む（▼((略式))ではTwo teas, please. のようにいうことが多い）

add half a cup of sugar to ...
…に砂糖を半カップ加える.

3
(1) カップ状の物.
(2) 《植物》（花の）がく, （ドングリの）殻斗(かくと).
(3) （ブラジャーの）カップ.
(4) 《ゴルフ》カップ：ホールの中の金属容器.
(5) 《医学》吸い玉(cupping glass).

4 ((しばしばthe C-))（競技の）優勝杯, 賞杯, カップ；((単数形))((主に英))競技大会

the Davis Cup
（テニスの）デビスカップ

win the cup
優勝する.

5 [C][U]((英))カップ：香料を入れた冷たいアルコール飲料.

6 聖体拝領皿, 聖杯(chalice)；（聖餐の）ぶどう酒.

7 （人生における苦楽の）自分のあずかる分；運命（の杯）；経験

drink a bitter cup
苦い経験をする, 苦杯をなめる

His cup of misery was full.
彼は悲惨のどん底にあった.

8 ((通例〜s, the 〜))飲酒；酒；((the 〜))コーヒー類の中毒

in one's cups
((古風))酔って

be fond of the cup
酒［コーヒー］好きだ

talk over one's cups
酒を飲みながら語る.

9 《数学》（集合の）結び（記号：U）. ▼「または」と読む.

another ［a different］ cup of tea

まったくの別物.

one's cup is full

至福の状態である.

one's cup of tea

（▼ofの発音は単に 〔〕 のことが多い）((略式))
(1) ((しばしば否定文))性に合うもの, 好物, 「十八番」.
(2) ((英))人, 人物.

━━[動]（〜ped, 〜・ping）(他)〈水などを〉茶わん［手のひら］で受ける［すくう］；…を手のひらなどを丸めて囲む, 〈手などを〉茶わん状に丸める

cup water from a pond
池から茶わん［手のひら］で水をすくう

cup one's chin in one's hand
ほおづえをつく

He cupped his hands before his mouth and shouted.
彼は手のひらを丸め口にあてて叫んだ.

［後ラテン語cuppa（たる）］

cup・lìke, ・py

[形]カップ状の.


My cup of tea

Meaning

Something or someone that one finds pleasing.

Origin

An English website about the English language can't of course be complete without some consideration of tea. Tea has been around for a long time, and so has the British slang term for it - 'char'. In fact, it was known in the west by that version of the Mandarin ch'a before the name migrated through several languages to 'chay', 'tay' and was finally Anglicised as 'tea'. The Dutch adventurer Jan Huygen van Linschoten was one of the first to recount its use as a drink, in Discours of voyages into ye Easte & West Indies, 1598:

The aforesaid warme water is made with the powder of a certaine hearbe called Chaa.

'My cup of tea' is just one of the many tea-related phrases that are still in common use in the UK, such as 'Not for all the tea in China', 'I could murder a cup of tea', 'More tea vicar?', 'Tea and sympathy', 'Rosie Lee', 'Storm in a teacup' and so on.

In the early 20th century, a 'cup of tea' was such a synonym for acceptability that it became the name given to a favoured friend, especially one with a boisterous, life-enhancing nature. William de Morgan, the Edwardian artist and novelist, used the phrase in the novel Somehow Good, 1908, and went on to explain its meaning:

"He may be a bit hot-tempered and impulsive... otherwise, it's simply impossible to help liking him." To which Sally replied, borrowing an expression from Ann the housemaid, that Fenwick was a cup of tea. It was metaphorical and descriptive of invigoration.

People or things with which one felt an affinity began to be called 'my cup of tea' in the 1930s. Nancy Mitford appears to be the first to record that term in print, in the comic novel Christmas Pudding, 1932:

I'm not at all sure I wouldn't rather marry Aunt Loudie. She's even more my cup of tea in many ways.

In keeping with the high regard for tea, most of the early references to 'a cup of tea' as a description of an acquaintance are positive ones, i.e. 'nice', 'good', 'strong' etc. The expression is more often used in the 'not my cup of tea' form these days. This negative usage began in WWII. An early example of it is found in Hal Boyle's Leaves From a War Correspondent's Notebook column, which described English life and manners for an American audience. The column provided the American counterpart to Alister Cooke's Letter from America and was syndicated in various US papers. In 1944, he wrote:

[In England] You don't say someone gives you a pain in the neck. You just remark "He's not my cup of tea."

The change from the earlier positive 'my cup of tea' phrase, to the dismissive 'not my cup of tea' doesn't reflect the national taste for the drink itself. Tea remains our cup of tea here in the UK. According to the United Kingdom Tea Council (of course, there had to be one) 60 million of us down 160 million cups of the stuff each day.

See also: the meaning and origin of 'Not for all the tea in China'.

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Indies

Line breaks: In¦dies

Pronunciation: /ˈɪndɪz 

  

/

ARCHAIC

another term for East Indies ( sense 2).

Origin

plural of Indy, an obsolete variant of India.

East Indies

Line breaks: East In¦dies

1The islands of SE Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago.

2ARCHAIC The whole of SE Asia to the east of and including India.

Derivatives

East Indian

ADJECTIVE

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES