I had some dreams, there were clouds in my coffee.
-Carly Simon
Burt, please tell us how coffee got the name Joe. I use that term all the time.
Tina, good one!!
Although snopes.com claims it to be false, I'm comfortable with the theory of:
A Cup of Joe
A cup of coffee.
'A cup of Joe,' as a reference to a cup of coffee, first appeared as popular slang in the 1930s and 40s. Opinions differ on where this phrase originates from, but presented here are a few different theories.
Something to do with the Military?
In 1914, the secretary of the US Navy, Admiral Josephus 'Joe' Daniels abolished the officers' wine mess. From that time on the strongest (and apparently therefore the drink of choice) on board navy ships was coffee. It was dubbed 'a cup of Joe' after the secretary.
'A cup of Joe' also refers to the GIs' favourite drink. During World War II the US defence workers were supplied with as much coffee as they wanted. Coffee was a source of warmth and comfort for battle-weary troups.
The slang was popular enough to be included in the Reserve Officer's Manual of 1931.
A variation on this theme has it that Joe refers to the average Joe, thus making 'a cup of Joe' the average drink of the average man.
SOURCE:
http:
//answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080708081242AAFtkMT
SNOPES REBUTTAL:
http:
//www.snopes.com/language/eponyms/cupofjoe.asp
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