Coffee Slang Words
The next time someone asks for a cup of tar or brain juice, hand them a cup of coffee, as the terms are just a small sip of the many slang words used to describe one of the best-selling beverages across the world. Coffee slang seemingly comes in as many varieties as the coffee itself, and many of the terms belie coffee's station and importance in life.
Significance
The huge number of slang terms for coffee clearly illustrate its huge importance in daily life. The coffee industry has gone through ups and downs but it will likely never go dry. The use of slang often comes about when something has been widely recognized and people are intimate with the product. Slang is also much more fun than a term coined for standard use. After all, it's much more amusing and endearing to ask for a cup of joe or mother's little helper than it is to order a boring old coffee.
Function
Some folks don't drink coffee for the taste but for its side effects. Many drink coffee to kick off or jump start their day or to simply wake up. Terms that reflect the power of coffee include picker-upper, plasma, caffeine, day starter and lifeblood, according to CocoaJava.com. The site also cites wakey juice, caffeine fix, cup of jolt, morning thunder, one's daily infusion, daily energy and the pun-like daily grind.
Effects
Coffee can be like fuel for the brain or body, hence a wide range of slang that likens coffee to gasoline. While some may be making a sarcastic allusion to coffee's taste, others are honest in revering coffee as brain juice. Other terms of this nature include high octane, jet fuel, rocket fuel, leaded, unleaded, high test, liquid energy and cupped or liquid lightning.
Geography
Regional slang terms for coffee are another category. Those in the Wild West used to call coffee Arbuckle's, named after a popular brand at the time, according to the Web site LegendsOfAmerica.com. The term's current use implies a cup of cowboy coffee, thick, black, hot and strong. Another site, INeedCoffe.com, said the term Arbuckle's was not a brand of coffee but rather the method cowboys used for brewing it to get it thick, black, hot and strong. Another term based on region is java, which is derived from the island of Java in Indonesia where premium coffee is grown. Other regional terms for coffee include Americano, the Swiss Kaffee and Manila's Kape, according to CocoaJava.com
Misconceptions
Just because some of the coffee slang may sound like coffee is wholly unpleasant, doesn't mean it's a horrific beverage. The phrases may have been coined after a horrible experience with coffee or, more likely, as a term of endearment, not unlike calling a child a little brat or "boogerbutt." These terms include many variations of mud, morning mud, muddy water and murk. Others include battery acid and tar.
Potential
As the types of coffee change, become more elaborate and are festooned with whipped cream and cinnamon sticks, an ordinary cup of joe becomes increasingly harder to find. With the proliferation of gourmet coffee shops whipping up lattes and mochachinos, the slang evolves to match the product. Newer slang in the vernacular has come to include misto, which is synonymous with an American cafe au lait or, in Paris, un creme, according to CocoaJava.com. Popular brand names and notable figures are also often used as coffee slang, such as a cup of Juan Valdez's best.
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