|
|
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2
stranger
|
OP
stranger
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2 |
Dear All, Let me be lazy and just copy-paste my letter to awad: I was sitting in the pub with the two of my friends today and somehow we ended up discussing what is the English name for a tea/coffee cup/mug handle... Only one of us is a native English speaker (not me, I shall add) and he claimed it's simply a tea-cup handle... Having been subscribed to AWAD for the better part of the last decade I find it extremely difficult to believe there is no single word for that in English - and a more elegant one on top of that! We weren't, however, able to find one through a simple internet search. Any chance you could shed some light on the matter? Anyone? I'll be extremely grateful, because it's killing me not to know that  Cheers, Rafal
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
It's called a handle. The important lesson here is that there need not be a single word for every little thing in English or in any other language. Is there a single word for it in your native language?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3 |
WELCOME RAFAL ,handle and all.
----please, draw me a sheep----
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 677
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 677 |
you could always use the latin, manubrium, although it has already been taken by the medical profession - medical dictionary 
----The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false----
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3 |
----please, draw me a sheep----
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 33
newbie
|
|
newbie
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 33 |
In my native language (Polish) we call it "ucho" - ear, because it sort of has the shape of an ear  I even once said that in front of the class coz I didn't know it's called handle and my teacher said with smile that she gets the connotation
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,933 Likes: 3 |
----please, draw me a sheep----
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Welcome aBoard, eli!
In my native language (Polish) we call it "ucho" - ear We have a rather old-fashioned saying: "little pitchers have big ears"; for the same reason, I'm sure.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2
stranger
|
|
OP
stranger
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2 |
Thank you all. I'm a native Polish speaker as well - and indeed we don't have one name for a tea-cup handle. We call it, as elifit pointed out, a tea-cup ear (or just an ear).
I just thought, perhaps unfairly, that 'handle' is not the most elegant English word to use in this context. And also, since English has a loooong history of words borrowed from other languages, I almost expected there to be one even if not of English origin (there is one in Welsh!). So you're right, there's a lesson in it for me...
Best,
Rafal
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
earThere is a proverb in English (and many other languages no doubt) that "little pitchers have big ears". Cup handle is what it's called. I recently dropped a cup and broke its handle. Calling it ear, you might be understood, but calling it handle there's no risk of being misunderstood. The {y} in Polish (and some other Slavic languages that use the Latin alphabet, is a high central unrounded vowel ( link). It is written in Cyrllic (for Russian anyway) as {ы}.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,611
Members9,187
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
1 members (wofahulicodoc),
124
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
