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) 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
• Finnish: kuppi teetä, kupillinen teetä
• French: tasse de thé f
• German: Tasse Tee f
• Greek: φλιτζάνι τσάι n (flitzáni tsái)
• 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: please add this translation if you can
• Oriya: 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
• 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: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: paned m, paned o de m, dysglaid f, dysglaid o de f

something of interest

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 菜 (zh) (cài)

• Dutch: kopje thee
• 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

• 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)
• Urdu: پسند کا کام‎ (pasand kā kām)
• Thai: แนว (th) (nɛɛo) (colloquial)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. 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