Cup
A cup is a drinking vessel with a handle that is primarily used for hot drinks . In parts of Germany, larger cups are often called potts (a "pot of coffee") or cups.
etymology
The word cup is a loan word ( tasse ) from French of Arabic origin ( Arabic طاس, DMG ṭās , also: ṭās (s) a = bowl, bowl). The word was adopted into German in the 16th century. The Arabic word is said to go back to the Persian word tašt (pronounced: tascht) (= basin, bowl). Since porcelain originates from ancient China, it must be assumed that the Persian word goes back to the trade in porcelain. The term cup is mostly used only for the upper part - the cup. The saucer composition has prevailed for the saucer .
In Austria and southern Germany, however, a cup can also refer to a saucer or a small metal tray, as is commonly used in Viennese coffee houses . A common variant of this is the word Tatz (e) or (as a diminutive) Tatzl or Tatzerl , which comes from the Italian tazza (= cup). These word forms only refer to a subset (cf. the Biertatzl for the beer mat ). The Italian word also goes back to the Arabic tas .
Some believe that mug was originally adopted from Italian before the 16th century and was only later adapted to the French sound.
The Austrian word Häferl (in some areas also Haferl ) is the diminutive of the old word Hafen (secondary form: harbors ) for a stone pot, a vessel, an enclosure. Mugs are usually larger cups with handles, the walls of which run straight up, so the bottom and top opening are basically the same size.
history
The origins of the cup go back to the time of the Tang Dynasty (618–906 AD) in China, when porcelain was invented. According to tradition, the cup found its way to Europe through Portuguese traders who imported the first tea from China to England around 1610 AD. Since both tea and porcelain were only available in very small quantities at the time, this hot drink was reserved for wealthy Europeans for a very long time. Although there have been many efforts to make your own porcelain cups, the results did not match the dishes from China, as they often shattered when hot water was added. The first usable European porcelain was made by the alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger in the city of Meißen, which is still known today for its Meißner porcelain . However, as the demand for cups and tea bowls in Europe decreased over time, England became the center of the production of porcelain and ceramics from around 1750. It was there that the cup with a handle was invented, as it is often used today.
Material and use
Cups are mostly used for serving hot beverages such as tea , coffee or cocoa .
The classic coffee or tea cup is made of porcelain , stoneware, earthenware or earthenware and is always placed on a saucer (a small plate) according to custom . Historical chocolate cups also have a lid. Compared to the coffee cup, the tea cup is usually flatter and wider and typically also thinner-walled. However, there are also cups made of other materials, for example wood , glass , sheet metal , plastic or cardboard .
A coffee service for 6 people consists of 21 individual parts, namely 1 jug, 1 milk jug, 1 sugar bowl, 6 bowls and saucers and 6 cake or dessert plates. A tea service often has the same number of parts, but the plates or milk and sugar containers may be missing.
In the household , the cup is also used to measure liquids or bulk goods such as flour or sugar . The cup is therefore also a ladle measure . In German recipes, “1 cup” usually corresponds to an eighth of a liter (125 ml); In translations from English-speaking countries, however, the unit of measurement “ cup ” can also be meant, which is more like a quarter liter (250 ml) (in English recipes ~ 284 ml, in American recipes ~ 236 ml). Cup head is an old name for the cup and also means 1 ⁄ 8 liter as a unit of measurement .
Formations
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In the coffee service , cups are small, flat drinking vessels with 125 ml. These are also known as bowls . Large, tall (250 ml) cups are also used as mugs or mugs.
Cups are made in different shapes and are often artistically designed. While cups are typically cylindrical or conical, with a height greater than the diameter and rather simply designed, cups are often more freely designed in their shape and can be cylindrical, conical, bulbous or straight upwards. A cup is also distinguished from a mug in that a handle is always attached to it, while this need not be the case with the mug.
The size of a cup also depends on the type of drink it contains. The espresso cup is small because strong coffee is usually enjoyed in small portions. The cup for milk coffee , on the other hand, is much larger than a normal coffee cup. The French cups (actually they are bowls ) for café au lait typically do not have a handle. They are commonly called bol like the drink they contain .
Lately, so-called mugs have come into fashion. This refers to cups that are larger than classic coffee cups, are used without a saucer and often have a handle. Some of these mugs are double-walled and have a lid. This means that a hot drink should retain its heat longer and a cold drink (such as iced tea ) should not heat up quickly.
As a special variant of cups, a soup cup typically has two handles.
| Height-to-width ratio |
handle | Saucer | Content (l) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mug | approx. 3: 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0.33-0.4 |
| cups | approx. 2: 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3-0.4 |
| Mug (handle mug) | approx. 2: 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.3-0.4 |
| coffee pot | approx. 1: 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.2-0.25 |
| Teacup | approx. 1: 2 | 1 (0) | 1 | 0.2-0.25 |
| Bol | approx. 1: 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.35-0.5 |
| Soup cup | approx. 1: 3 | 2 | 0 (1) | 0.35-0.5 |
Other uses and areas of application
Flat, bowl-like devices are also referred to as cups, which are used to collect liquids (often water) and, if necessary, to drain them away: z. B. the shallow bowl below a shower , often inside a cubicle , the "shower tray". The shallow collecting basin under a cooling tower is also called a cup.
Linguistic phrases
Common expressions that contain the term cup are expressions in which the word does not name the object actually referred to. In non-transposed parlance, cup means another object:
- Raise your cups! A ceremonial phrase refers to the request to raise glasses, mugs or jugs that serve as drinking vessels for beer or other cold drinks.
- As a linguistic analogy, flying saucers get their name from supposedly rounded, flat light phenomena.
In a figurative sense, cup refers to the head or the spirit of the person:
- The metaphor Not having all the cups in the cupboard means colloquially a condescending remark in which the competence or sanity of the person asked is contested or questioned.
- The metaphor cloudy cup is a colloquial and rather derogatory but also joking expression for boring (stupid) people .
In this case the cup has nothing to do with the drinking vessel, but is derived from the Yiddish word toshia , which means something like understanding .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Etymological Dictionary of German , edit. v. Wolfgang Pfeifer, 7th edition dtv, Munich 2004.
- ↑ a b c Duden: The dictionary of origin. Etymology of the German Language , 4th edition, Dudenverlag, Mannheim 2007.
- ↑ a b Kluge: Etymological dictionary of the German language , edit. v. Elmar Seebold, 24th edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 2002.