Re: "I'm coffee and he's espresso." -- facially nonsensical

From: Patrick Powers (frisbieinstein_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 06/11/04 

Date: 10 Jun 2004 20:55:31 -0700

Enrico C <use_replyto_address@despammed.com> wrote in message news:<1be4q6m40n6qv.dlg@news.lillathedog.net>...
> Rowan Malin | uk.culture.language.english,sci.lang,alt.usage.english
> in <news:2ini6pFp6k52U1@uni-berlin.de>
>
> > OK: "Two guys walk into a bar..., one says 'OW! That really hurt!'"
>
> In Italian we use the same word, "caffe`", for both the drink (cup of
> coffee) and the place (coffee bar). So, the joke is that entering a
> "caffe`", one makes a... splash sound ;)
>
> I wonder if one could use the word "coffee" in the same way in
> English.
> For instance: "Let go to a coffee." instead of "Let go to a coffee
> bar."
> ?

"Let's go to a coffee" is perfectly grammatical and understandable,
but for native speakers only a poet would come up with such a thing.
I like the expression. It just isn't in use, and usage rules.

How about the expression "take a sh*t," which is the exact opposite of
what actually happens. The European who pointed this out to me added,
"Shouldn't that be 'leave a sh*t?'"

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