# on mérite bien un café



## elie copter

bonjour 
comment dire   apres un travail  "on mérite bien un café"

lets have a coffee?
it s worth a coffee?

what 's the more common idiom?
*thank you


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## paulvial

I would say :
we have  pretty well earned a cup of  coffee 
we deserve our coffee


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## elie copter

toujours bon a savoir 
merci


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## spatula

In BrE, it would be, _'We (really) deserve a coffee'_ or _'We've (really) earned ourselves a coffee'. _


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## SwissPete

Other possibilities: 

"Let's have a well-deserved coffee".
"Let's have a cuppa java; we earned it".


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## Juan Jacob Vilalta

paulvial said:


> I would say :
> we have pretty well earned a cup of coffee
> we deserve our coffee


 
Of course: We deserve *a* coffee.


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## bonjour_papillon

jjv: we deserve our coffee marche bien. en fait je le trouve mieux pour exprimer quelquechose que le buveur tient a coeur 

pour moi, si on dit "i deserve my coffee", ca veut dire que je vais boire mon cafe comme d'habitude, mais aujourd'hui, en plus, je le merite.


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## spatula

bonjour_papillon said:


> jjv: we deserve our coffee marche bien. en fait je le trouve mieux pour exprimer quelquechose que le buveur tient a coeur
> 
> pour moi, si on dit "i deserve my coffee", ca veut dire que je vais boire mon cafe comme d'habitude, mais aujourd'hui, en plus, je le merite.


 
For me, the use of _'my'_ indicates that the person / group has already sat down and have their coffees in front of them - in which case yes, it's correct.  However, the original suggestion with its use of 'let's' indicated to me that they weren't yet in that position and it was more an offer to go have one.  Therefore, at this point they weren't in possession of a coffee so _'my'_ is not right.  To _me _anyway!


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## wildan1

paulvial said:


> I would say :
> we have pretty well earned a cup of coffee (AE)
> we deserve our coffee


 
_Coffee_ is non-count, like _beer, wine, bread._ I hear most people around me say _coffee_ or a cup of coffee, and not _"a coffee"--_I think the latter is mostly BE usage. It sounds a bit affected to me when I hear AE-speakers use it.


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## spatula

wildan1 said:


> _Coffee_ is non-count, like _beer, wine, bread._ I hear most people around me say _coffee_ or a cup of coffee, and not _"a coffee"--_I think the latter is mostly BE usage. It sounds a bit affected to me when I hear AE-speakers use it.


 
That's interesting.  So what would you say instead wildan1, 'Let's (go) have coffee?'  'I need coffee,' 'Would you like coffee?' etc etc.  For each of these I'd insert 'a', apart from the first one which is plural so it would be 'some'.  It's ringing a bell that AE is different, but I wouldn't have been immediately aware!


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## wildan1

spatula said:


> That's interesting. So what would you say instead wildan1, 'Let's (go) have coffee?' 'I need coffee,' 'Would you like coffee?' etc etc. For each of these I'd insert 'a', apart from the first one which is plural so it would be 'some'. It's ringing a bell that AE is different, but I wouldn't have been immediately aware!


 
We don't usually treat coffee any differently than we treat most other non-count nouns (wine, bread, milk, etc.
The only exception I can think of is_ beer -- a cold beer. _There probably are others.) 

_coffee_
_some coffee_
_a cup of coffee_


I do hear some people say_ "a coffee"_ but it does have a tinge of affectation coming from an AE-speaker's mouth. 

(I do hear some New Yorkers say _"a regulah kawfee"_ -- which by the way means with cream and sugar. Perhaps it's regional?)


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## admetus

Maybe it's because for so many years in BE, the correct expression in all of these cases would have been "a cup of tea". So, if I may borrow your count/non-count description, coffee is a count noun and it comes in discrete units of 'one cup'.


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## kiwi-di

"A coffee" is what we say in this part of the world.   However, "a coffee" is becoming synonymous for a hot drink.   So, I'd be likely say to someone "shall we go for a coffee" - and then have tea, or hot chocolate, or ....  

As a translation of _on mérite bien un café _I'd probably say "We really deserve a coffee".


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## broglet

SwissPete said:


> Other possibilities:
> 
> "Let's have a well-deserved coffee".
> "Let's have a cuppa java; we earned it".


 java? c'est pas un mot anglais (sauf pour l'isle indonésienne)


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## wildan1

broglet said:


> java? c'est pas un mot anglais (sauf pour l'isle indonésienne)


 
Very common slang word for _coffee _in AE. Here's a good place to catch _a cuppa java._ You don't even have to leave your car.


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## broglet

here we go again! two nations divided by a common language! You don't even catch coffee in BE.  Fish, flu or something in your zip, yes. Coffee, no.


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## wildan1

broglet said:


> here we go again! two nations divided by a common language! You don't even catch coffee in BE. Fish, flu or something in your zip, yes. Coffee, no.


 

(AE) _catch some coffee, grab some pizza - se boire un café, se manger une pizza_


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## akaAJ

I agree with spatula, "We deserve a coffee".  That is also common USE, although, picky me, I would say "a cup of coffee".


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## broglet

wildan1 said:


> (AE) _catch some coffee, grab some pizza - se boire un café, se manger une pizza_


you could grab some pizza in the UK too, but your hands would get greasy and the pizza would be ruined


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## akaAJ

I have heard "catch a movie, a train, a cab", never "catch a coffee" or "catch some coffee".  "Grab" a, some or a cup of coffee does occur.


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## yuechu

I agree that "a coffee" is definitely used in North America.. (in Canada as well as in the US), although I'm sure there are some differences in the situation/collocations that go with it.
I would personally be as likely to say "Let's go grab a coffee" as "Let's go grab some coffee".

However, I have trouble imagining a situation where saying "a coffee" sounds affected (this is in the sense of pretentious, right?) to North American ears..
Perhaps this is just me though.


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## B.P.O.

broglet said:


> you could grab some pizza in the UK too, but your hands would get greasy and the pizza would be ruined



 That's true !


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## wildan1

broglet said:


> you could grab some pizza in the UK too, but your hands would get greasy and the pizza would be ruined


 
Very common in AE--see here

_Grab pizza, grab coffee, grab lunch_--it's all good (very colloquial)


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## broglet

In BE 'grab' suggests a grasping hand and is rarely used figuratively, but back to business: paulvial's 'We've earned a coffee' seems to me what BE speakers would be most likely to say for 'on mérite bien un café'


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## spatula

broglet said:


> In BE 'grab' suggests a grasping hand and is rarely used figuratively, but back to business: paulvial's 'We've earned a coffee' seems to me what BE speakers would be most likely to say for 'on mérite bien un café'


 
Sorry to go off topic, but I hear, 'Let's grab a bite to eat' very often in BrE, and use it myself - _usually _to mean an impromptu, snatched snack .


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## elie copter

hey guys
 you re brimming with enthusiasm for a cup of coffee

thanks you to all of you


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## LouisQuatorze

how odd!  I love languages
I didn't realise Americans didn't say "we deserve a coffee" (which would be my translation)
or that they said "cuppa java"  - when I read that I was like "...? what?" I've never even heard that, which is strange because you pick up a lot of American phrases from TV.


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## wildan1

LouisQuatorze said:


> how odd! I love languages
> I didn't realise Americans didn't say "we deserve a coffee" (which would be my translation)
> or that they said "cuppa java" - when I read that I was like "...? what?" I've never even heard that, which is strange because you pick up a lot of American phrases from TV.


 
Also a somewhat older AE slang word: _a cuppa* joe*_


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## Chris' Spokesperson

Let's go grab a bite to eat is very often used in the UK and in Ireland too.  Do you want to grab a chipper on the way home? etc etc

While differences between AE and BE (and indeed IE) do exist, very often people invent them from their own personal usage.  In the UK you could easily say, let's go for coffee.  Or you could say, let's get a coffee.  

I refuse to believe that either of those sentences would be viewed as unusual in AE either, the introduction or removal of the indefinite article making scant difference to the concept that coffee will be gotten.

For the original sentence I would tend to say something like, "Boy do we deserve a coffee!"

And I've purposely mixed BE and AE stylings in that one sentence just to tick off the sticklers


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## wildan1

Chris' Spokesperson said:


> And I've purposely mixed BE and AE stylings in that one sentence just to tick off the sticklers


 
Stickler? Moi ?!

Remember, the initial poster asked if his sentences sounded natural and we all were responding with what sounded natural to us. 

You can say_ a coffee_ and I will perfectly understand it along with anyone in the US. I just don't use it naturally, and I don't hear others around me use it much either. Period. 

No sticklericity here! Just answering the question asked...


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## samoht21

baosheng said:


> I agree that "a coffee" is definitely used in North America.. (in Canada as well as in the US), although I'm sure there are some differences in the situation/collocations that go with it.
> I would personally be as likely to say "Let's go grab a coffee" as "Let's go grab some coffee".
> 
> However, I have trouble imagining a situation where saying "a coffee" sounds affected (this is in the sense of pretentious, right?) to North American ears..
> Perhaps this is just me though.



I happen to agree with you there. My AE ears wouldn't think of it as affected speech necessarily. As far as 'a coffee' vs. 'coffee' I hear them used interchangeably, perhaps one being slightly more specific than the other. This is why I drink tea by the way.


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## broglet

I once asked a philosopher, "Would you like any coffee?" "No" he replied. Then I asked, "Would you like some coffee?" "No" he again responded. So I asked, "Would you like coffee?" "Yes" he answered, and from that moment onward we became the greatest of friends.


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## Gargamelle

I'd say "a coffee," "a pop (soda)."  While coffee is a non-count noun, it's easy to move from "a drink" or "a beer" to "a coffee."  ("A drink" in the sense of an alcoholic beverage, that is).  I would also say "two coffees" when placing an order in a café, and again, it's a very short step to "a coffee."  (But don't step *in* the coffee!)


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## samoht21

This reference my help with the count, non-count issue:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=14722&dict=CALD


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## wildan1

Gargamelle said:


> I'd say "a coffee," "a pop (soda)." While coffee is a non-count noun, it's easy to move from "a drink" or "a beer" to "a coffee." ("A drink" in the sense of an alcoholic beverage, that is). I would also say "two coffees" when placing an order in a café, and again, it's a very short step to "a coffee." (But don't step *in* the coffee!)


 
Now that's funny--I, too, would say_ *a* soda_ (a Coca-Cola, a Fanta, etc.) whereas in my midwestern childhood days, I would have said _*some* pop_--not _a pop_. Go figure...maybe usage is evolving over the decades (I've lived through a few  )

Thinking about it, maybe _a coffee, a soda_ describes an individual serving--made and served in a cup (not poured from a coffee pot) or an individual can/bottle and not poured from a 1-2 liter bottle...

_Do you want some more coffee/pop/soda? -- _to me it will definitely be added to the container/cup/glass you already are drinking from.

_Do you want anotther coffee/pop/soda?_ -- you will be given a fresh drink in a fresh receptacle of whatever form.


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## Pedro y La Torre

[...] 
To answer the original question, "_we've earned ourselves a coffee_" is what sounds most idiomatic to me.


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## broglet

Gargamelle said:


> While coffee is a non-count noun, it's easy to move from "a drink" or "a beer" to "a coffee." )


I think there's some confusion here. In 'we deserve a coffee' the noun 'a coffee' is shorthand for 'a cup of coffee each' - so is countable.  By contrast, the term 'coffee' as used in the statement 'I like coffee', is uncountable.


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## Gargamelle

broglet said:


> I think there's some confusion here. In 'we deserve a coffee' the noun 'a coffee' is shorthand for 'a cup of coffee each' - so is countable.  By contrast, the term 'coffee' as used in the statement 'I like coffee', is uncountable.




Exactly!


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## Aoyama

Comment dire après un travail "on mérite bien un café" ?

We sure deserve a cup of coffee. (To make things simple).


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## Gargamelle

Aoyama said:


> Comment dire après un travail "on mérite bien un café" ?
> 
> We sure desserve a cup of coffee. (To make things simple).




We sure deserve a (cup of) coffee.


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