Cuppa Joe

Ahhhh, there’s nothing I enjoy more in the morning than a good cuppa joe.  It just starts my day off…  What’s that?  What’s a “cuppa joe”?  Sorry.  I was using American slang there.

A cuppa joe is a cup of coffee.  Americans have been calling coffee “joe” for many years.  Where did this come from?  Well, linguists aren’t sure, but some of them think it is a shortening—or corruption—of the word “jamocha,” which means coffee.

Lots of companies use “joe” in their coffee marketing.  My local Speedway gas station will sell you a commuter mug with “Joe” printed on the side; when you stop for refills with that mug, you get a discount on your coffee purchase.

Starbucks Coffee sponsors a morning talk show called “Morning Joe,” which features a political analyst named Joe Scarborough.  Notice the letter “o” in the logo looks like a circular stain left by your coffee mug on the table.

There’s a coffee mug with Vice President Joe Biden’s picture on it.  Hey, Joe, nice mug shot!

There’s even a Michigan coffee shop called Cuppa Joe.

So, now you’re wondering why is it spelled “cuppa”?  That’s because the word “of” in the expression “cup of coffee” isn’t very important—it’s only a preposition, after all—so Americans just mumble that word, and it sort of sounds like “uh.”

So, the next time your American coworkers invite you for a cuppa joe, just say thanks and go along with them.  Unless you’re a tea drinker.  Then you can order a cuppa tea.