cup of tea

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (careful speech) /ˈkʌp əv ˈtiː/, (fast speech) /ˌkʌp ə ˈtiː/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

cup of tea (plural cups of tea)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cup,‎ tea. A cup or mug with tea in it.

   Synonyms: (colloquial) cuppa, (chiefly UK, Ireland) brew

   Would you be a dear and get me a cup of tea, please?

   • 2020 April 8, Howard Johnston, “East-ended? When the ECML was a risk”, in RAIL, pages 65–66:

     In the heady days of 1970, the national average wage was about £6,200 in today's money, but a cup of BR tea was within everyone's reach at 9d (2020 value: 55p) until it suddenly went up to 11p (2020: 70p). (The 2020 price would relate to 11d, not 11p; decimalisation took place in 1971.)

   • 2022 January 26, “Network News: Samaritans Brew Monday returns to station concourses”, in RAIL, number 949, page 25:

     "We know the impact talking and listening can have. A cup of tea and a chat won't solve everything, but it can be a start.

2. (idiomatic, singular only) Whatever suits or interests one.

   Synonyms: bag, cup of coffee, cup of joe; see also Thesaurus:predilection

   Daytime television is not my cup of tea.

3. (bingo) three

Usage notes

• (whatever suits or interests one): Used in phrases such as "not his cup of tea", "just my cup of tea", etc.

Translations

tea in a cup

• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: tassa de te
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 杯茶 (bēi chá)

• Cornish: hanafas a de m
• Dutch: kopje thee
• Esperanto: taso da teo
• Finnish: kuppi teetä, kupillinen teetä
• French: tasse de thé f
• German: Tasse Tee f
• Greek: φλιτζάνι τσάι n (flitzáni tsái)
• Hebrew: כּוֹס תֵּה (kos tēh)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: egy csésze tea
• Irish: cupán tae m
• Italian: tazza di tè
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Manx: cappan dy hey m
• Mongolian: аяга цай (ajaga caj)
• Odia: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: xícara de chá
• Punjabi: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: ceașcă de ceai
• Scottish Gaelic: strùpag f, cupa tì m, copan teatha m
• Spanish: taza de té
• Swedish: kopp te c
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: tách trà
• Welsh: paned m, paned o de m, dysglaid f, dysglaid o de f

something of interest

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 菜 (zh) (cài)

• Dutch: kopje thee
• Esperanto: plezuro (eo), interesaĵo
• Finnish: juttu (fi)
• French: tasse de thé (fr) f, truc (fr) m (literally “(one's) thing”)
• German: Ding (de) (literally “(one's) thing”)
• Hindi: पसंद का काम (pasand kā kām)
• Hungarian: (one’s type; of a person) esete (hu) (literally “his/her case”), neki való (literally “suited to him”), neki találták ki (literally “devised for him/her”), az ő világa (literally “his/her world”), az ő ízlése (literally “his/her taste”), az ő műfaja (literally “his/her genre”)
• Italian: prediletto (it) m, preferito (it) m, (quello che) fa per me (usually in the negative), consono (it) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: greie (no) f

  Nynorsk: greie f

• Polish: bajka (pl) f
• Portuguese: praia (de alguém) f
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: конёк (ru) m (konjók)
• Spanish: plato del gusto m (usually in the negative), santo de la devoción m (usually in the negative)
• Thai: แนว (th) (nɛɛo) (colloquial)
• Urdu: پسند کا کام (pasand kā kām)
• Vietnamese: sở thích (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Macedonian: шо́лја ча́ј f (šólja čáj)

See also

• up someone's alley

Anagrams

• face up to