# a beaker of coffee



## jacdac

‘The coffee machine is on the landing by the lifts.
<…>
Now, I like my coffee black, strong and no sugar, sort that out and then meet me in my office in two minutes.’ 
<…>
In two minutes, he was tapping on her door, then placing a beaker of coffee on the coaster on her desk.
Source: Crime on Fens 

Is a beaker of coffee a mug of coffee or a jar of coffee that is part of the coffee machine? For some reason, google shows pictures of both. The lady or the tiger? 

Thank you.


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## Copyright

Hard to say ... if it's just for her, then it would be a mug of coffee; if it's for sharing (or if she feels like drinking a lot), it could be a carafe, which, by the way, is the word I would expect. So I'd go with a beaker-like mug, rather than the glass carafe that holds an entire dump of coffee from the machine. If people like coffee, they generally like it hot – I wouldn't be taking the carafe away from the heating element on the coffee machine that keeps it hot.


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## london calling

It's in the WR Dictionary:

beaker - WordReference.com Dictionary of English


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## heypresto

jacdac said:


> The lady or the tiger?


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## lingobingo

You don’t hear it much these days, but in BE the word beaker used to be quite common, meaning a plastic mug.


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## jacdac

Thank you. A plastic mug will do.



heypresto said:


>



"*The Lady, or the Tiger?*" is a much-anthologized short story written by Frank R. Stocktonfor publication in the magazine The Century in 1882. "The Lady, or the Tiger?" has entered the English language as an allegorical expression, a shorthand indication or signifier, for a problem that is unsolvable.


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## london calling

jacdac said:


> "*The Lady, or the Tiger?*" is a much-anthologized short story written by Frank R. Stocktonfor publication in the magazine The Century in 1882. "The Lady, or the Tiger?" has entered the English language as an allegorical expression, a shorthand indication or signifier, for a problem that is unsolvable.


I have never come across this in BE. I had no idea what you meant either.


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## heypresto

jacdac said:


> "*The Lady, or the Tiger?*" is a much-anthologized short story written by Frank R. Stocktonfor publication in the magazine The Century in 1882. "The Lady, or the Tiger?" has entered the English language as an allegorical expression, a shorthand indication or signifier, for a problem that is unsolvable.



Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs! That's a new one on me too. I shall use it at the first opportunity I get . . .


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## jacdac

Is  a beaker a mug or a carafe? I do not know. I can not resolve the puzzle. I learnt it from reading Stephen King’s books:


Nothing was coming. The trail was getting colder and he had nothing. The airport or the turnpike? *The lady or the tiger?*
Source: Firestarter by Stephen King


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## You little ripper!

The Unique Art of the Coffee Beaker

A beaker coffee mug is a neat mug that looks like a beaker and has measurements on the side to help you portion your coffee correctly.


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## Keith Bradford

In my experience, "beaker" was in common use in Britain up to around 1960.  It meant a drinking cup, often without a handle, made of metal, plastic or pottery.  Suddenly in the 1960s we all seemed to be drinking out of "mugs" instead.

However, I see from Google Ngram Viewer that this is not the national trend.  Perhaps mine is a regional, class-related or purely personal experience?


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## lingobingo

Google Images is clearly under the impression that a beaker is now a measuring cup, rather than the plastic tumbler it used to be.


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## london calling

Keith Bradford said:


> However, I see from Google Ngram Viewer that this is not the national trend.  Perhaps mine is a regional, class-related or purely personal experience?


No, I'm from London. 'Beaker' was a common term when I was a (middle-class) child in the 60s to mean 'plastic mug'. My parents still have a couple of beakers with Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations by E. H. Shepard on them which we had as children (probably worth a small fortune now).


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## exgerman

jacdac said:


> "*The Lady, or the Tiger?*" is a much-anthologized short story written by Frank R. Stocktonfor publication in the magazine The Century in 1882. "The Lady, or the Tiger?" has entered the English language as an allegorical expression, a shorthand indication or signifier, for a problem that is unsolvable.



We read the story in high school in the suburbs of New York, 50 years ago. I don't know if they still do.

I haven't heard the expression recently.


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## Keith Bradford

lingobingo said:


> Google Images is clearly under the impression that a beaker is now a measuring cup, rather than the plastic tumbler it used to be.



Yes, but those images are mainly for scientific beakers (lip, no handle, metric measurements).  A different animal entirely, and nothing you'd drink coffee out of.


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## Myridon

Keith Bradford said:


> In my experience, "beaker" was in common use in Britain up to around 1960.


On _Keeping Up Appearances _(1990-95), Hyacinth always asks her neighbor if she wants her coffee in a beaker (an unbreakable mug) instead of a cup (her Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles).


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## lingobingo

Keith Bradford said:


> Yes, but those images are mainly for scientific beakers (lip, no handle, metric measurements).  A different animal entirely, and nothing you'd drink coffee out of.


Precisely. But that’s what comes up when I ask for images for the single word “beaker”.


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## Andygc

My mother's word for what is now called a mug was "beaker". Not plastic, but pottery.

And don't forget the Beaker culture Beaker culture - Wikipedia


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## JulianStuart

From 2400 BC to 1960 AD; RIP "The Beaker" (Beaker culture - Wikipedia)

The dictionary has "a large drinking cup or glass with a wide mouth." but I would add "without a handle" as the description of beakers that I grew up with (until I got into the chenistry lab, of course)


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## Andygc

Beat you to the Beakers, JS.  

My mother's beakers had handles.


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## RM1(SS)

Interesting.  Mugs, beakers -- I would call them both "cups."  

And I suspect that the "carafe" Copyright mentioned is something that I would call a coffeepot:


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## lingobingo

RM1(SS) said:


> Interesting.  Mugs, beakers -- I would call them both "cups."
> 
> And I suspect that the "carafe" Copyright mentioned is something that I would call a coffeepot:


The American use of “cup” is a bane to us Brits (Dear Americans, I'm fed up with your stupid cup measurements), who can only guess what’s meant by the woolly term a “cup” of something in a recipe. Having said that, I _have_ recently invested in a set of American measuring spoons! 

And that coffee jug is not a carafe to us either. A carafe is wide-necked glass bottle without a lid into which you decant your red wine to let it breathe.


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## Packard

lingobingo said:


> Precisely. But that’s what comes up when I ask for images for the single word “beaker”.


My sister ran a lab for Merck in New Jersey.  One of the lab assistants made coffee in a beaker.  My sister had to tell her that if she did it again she would be fired.   It is illegal to drink beverages from lab vessels in New Jersey.  The reasoning behind it should be obvious.  

I don't know if it is illegal in other states, but it clearly is unwise.


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## JulianStuart

Unless it has a handle


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## Packard

JulianStuart said:


> View attachment 25626 Unless it has a handle


Yes.  That image shows a "beaker" that is clearly not a lab beaker.

OSHA does not seem to chime in on this.  They do say:  k) Eating, drinking, smoking, gum chewing, applying cosmetics, and taking medicine in laboratories where hazardous chemicals are used or stored should be strictly prohibited.

I Googled "where is it legal to use a lab beaker for food or drink" and did not find legal references, but most schools and colleges seem to have some guidelines in that regard.

Strangely I found this article (written by a scientist's wife):  3 Reasons Why You Should Start Using Lab Beakers In the Kitchen

*3 Reasons Why You Should Start Using Lab Beakers In the Kitchen*


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## JulianStuart

But they do make nice vases


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## Keith Bradford

Packard said:


> Yes.  That image shows a "beaker" that is clearly not a lab beaker.*..*



_Clearly_?  It's got a test-tube on the logo, it's got a plus/minus 5% notice on the scale, and it's got the scale in reverse order for accurate pouring.  And yet it has a handle and a drinkable rim...

I'd say that image shows a "beaker" that is schizophrenically not a lab beaker.


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## Andygc

Yes, Keith. It's clearly not a lab beaker because it doesn't have a pouring lip and does have a handle. It looks like a mug specifically made for people who work in labs to drink their tea from.


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## panjandrum

lingobingo said:


> You don’t hear it much these days, but in BE the word beaker used to be quite common, meaning a plastic mug.





You little ripper! said:


> The Unique Art of the Coffee Beaker
> 
> A beaker coffee mug is a neat mug that looks like a beaker and has measurements on the side to help you portion your coffee correctly.






lingobingo said:


> Google Images is clearly under the impression that a beaker is now a measuring cup, rather than the plastic tumbler it used to be.






london calling said:


> No, I'm from London. 'Beaker' was a common term when I was a (middle-class) child in the 60s to mean 'plastic mug'. My parents still have a couple of beakers with Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations by E. H. Shepard on them which we had as children (probably worth a small fortune now).






Andygc said:


> My mother's word for what is now called a mug was "beaker". Not plastic, but pottery.
> 
> And don't forget the Beaker culture Beaker culture - Wikipedia






JulianStuart said:


> From 2400 BC to 1960 AD; RIP "The Beaker" (Beaker culture - Wikipedia)
> 
> The dictionary has "a large drinking cup or glass with a wide mouth." but I would add "without a handle" as the description of beakers that I grew up with (until I got into the chenistry lab, of course)



It is safe to conclude, totally ignoring all the foregoing discussion, that the beaker of coffee in post #1 is a personal item use to convey one person's coffee from the machine to the desk and thence to the mouth.  There is nothing in the use of the term IN THIS CONTEXT that determines whether the item is made of glass, pottery, china, plastic, or whatever.
A beaker has some very specific attributes.
It contains MY drink (one person's drink).
It has a handle (or possibly two).

I think this word has a tendency to provoke strong reactions ... ... in me


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## Hermione Golightly

We were not given correct or sufficient source details, or adequate context.
Apart from that, I'm laughing so much I haven't time to have a minor nervous breakdown over the thread that has resulted. It's truly wonderful how a seemingly simple word can have such different connotations.

Andy's post pretty well sums up my beaker position.


> My mother's word for what is now called a mug was "beaker". Not plastic, but pottery.
> 
> And don't forget the Beaker culture Beaker culture - Wikipedia


As a passionate British prehistorian, the 'Beaker Folk' are my very first connotation.
As a normal person, 'beaker', whatever it's made from, does *not* have a handle.

With permission, I quote verbatim my Oxford scholar, very patient, British husband in the following dialogue.

Me: Darling, what does the word 'beaker' mean to you?
Him: Some ancient civilisation.
Me: Is that all?
Him:  + (An emoji that means something like 'Oh for heavens's sake!') I suppose it's something like a mug without an handle. Have I passed? If not, I don't want to know.


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## JulianStuart

Hermione Golightly said:


> As a passionate British prehistorian, the 'Beaker Folk' are my very first connotation.
> As a normal person, 'beaker', whatever it's made from, does *not* have a handle.


I did some google searches for a few images each of toothbrush beaker; ceramic beaker; clay beaker; plastic drinking beaker.  I found a vanishingly small number of items with handles


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## Loob

I think that much depends on how you picture the office coffee machine.

The ones I have experience of are more like this


 

 than like this


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## Packard

Loob said:


> I think that much depends on how you picture the office coffee machine.
> 
> The ones I have experience of are more like this
> View attachment 25630
> 
> than like this
> View attachment 25631


The containers in the lower image are called “carafes” in AE.


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## lingobingo

Hermione Golightly said:


> 'beaker', whatever it's made from, does *not* have a handle.


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## Keith Bradford

panjandrum said:


> ...It is safe to conclude, totally ignoring all the foregoing discussion, that the beaker of coffee in post #1 is a personal item use to convey one person's coffee from the machine to the desk and thence to the mouth...


Panjandrum, what's got into you?  You can't just say "totally ignoring all the foregoing discussion" when we're trying to define a term that has several possible interpretations.  For what it's worth, I agree with most of the ones you put your seigneurial "" against!


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## Packard

Keith Bradford said:


> Panjandrum, what's got into you?  You can't just say "totally ignoring all the foregoing discussion" when we're trying to define a term that has several possible interpretations.  For what it's worth, I agree with most of the ones you put your *seigneurial * against!



This is an English-only forum.

I've never heard anyone refer to a "beaker" as a drinking vessel. 

I have seen "test tubes" used for serving shots of alcohol.


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## lingobingo

Packard said:


> I've never heard anyone refer to a "beaker" as a drinking vessel.


OXFORD - British English dictionary
*beaker*
NOUN
_British_ 
1. A drinking container, typically made of plastic
1.1 A lipped cylindrical glass container for laboratory use​
OXFORD - American English dictionary
*beaker*
NOUN
1. A lipped cylindrical glass container for laboratory use
1.1 _British _A drinking container, typically made of plastic​


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## Keith Bradford

Packard said:


> This is an English-only forum.


This was a joke, yes?

*Seigneurial*, _a_. 1656.  Pertaining to a seigneur.  (Source, OED).


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## You little ripper!

Imperial Blue Coffee Beaker


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## Packard

Keith Bradford said:


> This was a joke, yes?
> 
> *Seigneurial*, _a_. 1656.  Pertaining to a seigneur.  (Source, OED).



Almost.  I had to look it up.  (I did put a smiley face in the post.)


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## Packard

lingobingo said:


> OXFORD - British English dictionary
> *beaker*
> NOUN
> _British_
> 1. A drinking container, typically made of plastic
> 1.1 A lipped cylindrical glass container for laboratory use​
> OXFORD - American English dictionary
> *beaker*
> NOUN
> 1. A lipped cylindrical glass container for laboratory use
> 1.1 _British _A drinking container, typically made of plastic​



I acknowledge the usage, I stand by my statement.  I've never* heard* anyone use it like that.


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## Andygc

Nice to see an example of what my mother called a beaker. Anybody who says emphatically that a beaker does not have a handle is patently wrong. There are posts in this thread by native English speakers who include drinking vessels with handles within the group "beakers". To some speakers they never have handles, to others they sometimes do.

And as for Oxford Dictionaries saying "typically plastic" the Beaker culture had beakers long before there was plastic.


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## Packard

Sigma-Aldrich, a company that makes laboratory glassware, shows this item:






It is shown alongside a coffee mug imprinted with the periodic table, so clearly this is a novelty item and not meant for lab work.

Their description reads:

*General description*
Made from 100% borosilicate glass with white, easy to read, graduations on back. With a 300 mL capacity, the large side handle stays cool when hot liquids are inside. These beaker mugs are heatproof, ovenproof, microwave and dishwasher safe.

The attached handle eliminates the need for clumsy gripping devices when handling hot liquids. Beakers are made of lightweight glass that is durable and has excellent heat transfer properties for rapid heating and cooling


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## You little ripper!

Andygc said:


> And as for Oxford Dictionaries saying "typically plastic" the Beaker culture had beakers long before there was plastic.


The person for whom the coffee was made was a DI. It could have been plastic, but not likely.


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## JulianStuart

Andygc said:


> To some speakers they never have handles, to others they sometimes do.


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## jacdac

I have just finished reading this novel by Joy Ellis and saw this glossary at the back: 

Glossary of English Slang for US readers 
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital 
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression 
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18 Barm: bread roll 
Barney: argument 
*Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids*
*<……> *
Source: Crime on the Fens by Joy Ellis.


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## lingobingo

Now he tells us!


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## JulianStuart

lingobingo said:


> Now he tells us!



Well, glasses don't usually have handles and both dictionaries at WRF define a cup as "_usually_ with a handle" - so I don't think this revelation alters much


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## Packard

lingobingo said:


> Now he tells us!



If he hadn't have posted the question we wouldn't have been so entertained all day.


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## london calling

Keith Bradford said:


> Panjandrum, what's got into you?  You can't just say "totally ignoring all the foregoing discussion" when we're trying to define a term that has several possible interpretations.  For what it's worth, I agree with most of the ones you put your seigneurial "" against!


Ditto.


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## RM1(SS)

Hermione Golightly said:


> As a passionate British prehistorian, the 'Beaker Folk' are my very first connotation.


That's the first thing I think of.  The red-haired Muppet is the second.   I never took chemistry, so it would be a while before I thought of that sort.


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## Myridon

RM1(SS) said:


> The red-haired Muppet is the second.   I never took chemistry, so it would be a while before I thought of that sort.


If you can think of Beaker and his friend Dr Bunsen (bunsen burner) Honeydew (his round green head) in their white lab coats without thinking of chemistry, you should try wishing on a piebald horse.


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## PaulQ

RM1(SS) said:


> Interesting.  Mugs, beakers -- I would call them both "cups."
> 
> And I suspect that the "carafe" Copyright mentioned is something that I would call a coffeepot:


Whatever else this is, it is not a beaker.


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