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Today is a big day for me. I’m beginning to write Language Nomad, a column about words and languages, and setting out on an exciting and cultivating journey around the world.

Language Nomad will talk about commonalities, sharp differences, unknown facts, funny words, or weird norms of different countries through their languages. We will travel across the diverse cultures of the world using languages, which are a fantastic tool to understand a society.

Are you curious about how? Then let’s get started.

The first topic is a beverage that has made its mark on literally every geography: coffee. Coffee is more than simply a beverage; it is a phenomenon.

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Some of us rely on coffee to stay awake. It’s the ideal complement to last night’s exam preparations or the indispensible aid in finishing a report that your boss has urged you to deliver early in the morning.

You may also recognize particular scenes involving coffee. People waking up in the morning and hitting the button on the coffee maker before everything, like sleepwalkers, or men and women walking down city streets with takeout cups on their way to work—I’ve always wanted to know what sort of coffee is in them.

Coffee means a lot to us. That’s why it has an impact on both our culture and our languages.

Coffee’s History Before It Arrived in Our Cups

The narrative of Kaldi, an Ethiopian goat herder, is the best-known legend about the first discovery of coffee in the world.

Kaldi discovered his goats were highly energetic and did not sleep at night after eating a peculiar berry during their travels in the countryside. Kaldi tried the berries and, after experiencing the buzzing effect, gave them to his village’s religious leader. The religious leader considered it the work of the devil and burned them. Everyone was impressed by the scent of the coffee beans after they came into contact with the flames, and the leader placed the beans in boiling water to ensure that the smell lingered for a long period of time. They then sipped the coffee beverage. Coffee became a beverage that they included in their lives since it helped them focus and provided them with a wonderful sensation.

The Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, and the Ottoman Empire later came out to have coffee. Coffee was originally consumed in Yemen in the 15th century, according to historical records. Coffee was brought to Europe through trade in the 16th century, and coffee shops began to sprout up. Coffee was first cultivated in South America in the 18th century, and it quickly became one of the world’s most popular beverages, alongside tea.

Etymology: What Is the Origin of the Word ‘Coffee’?

The word coffee comes from the Dutch word kaffe. Kaffe, on the other hand, comes from the Turkish word kahve, which is derived from the Arabic word qahwah, which medieval Arabic linguists say means wine.

Another theory about the origin of the word coffee is that it is derived from the name of Ethiopia’s Kaffa region.

Having gained the historical knowledge, let us begin our tour around the world.

Italian Influence on Coffee

One of the key locations to explore about how coffee has left its footprint on the world is Italy. If you look at the terminology for coffee varieties—even if you think about the ones you get at Starbucks—you will notice, perhaps with surprise or perhaps with normalization, that practically all of them are Italian.

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Espresso, one of the most basic styles of coffee brewing, literally means “pressed out” in Italian.

Cafe Latte is espresso with a lot of milk, and latte is Italian for milk.

Cafe Frappe translates to “cold coffee.” Even though the name is Italian, Frappes are a lifesaver in Athens during the summer heat and can be found at any cafe.

In Italian, cappuccino means “little capuchin.” However, it gets its name from the hooded garments worn by Capuchin friars in Europe in the 17th century.

The name barista, which means “coffee maker or coffee artist,” is derived from Italian and Spanish and was influenced by bartenders.

Finally, let us remind you that Starbucks encourages coffee culture and jazz music all around the world. Howard Schultz created Starbucks after being inspired by his visits to Milan, where delicious and high-quality coffee was served in fashionable cafes, and wanted to spread the Italian coffee and café culture in the US.

The Swedish King’s Experiment and the Triumph of Coffee

Scandinavian countries are the biggest coffee consumers in the world. Coffee stays at the center of their lives. In the coldest days of Sweden, entering any café in the streets greets you with a coffee smell and delicious pastries in a cozy and warm environment.

So much so that the Swedish language has a special word, , which means coffee breaks during the working day and actually means drinking coffee and socializing with friends. Fika is a well-known part of Swedish work and social life.

In Sweden, you don’t have to buy coffee in one cup. One cup of coffee is called ±Ê²¹³ÙÃ¥°ù, second cup is called °Õ°ù±ð³ÙÃ¥°ù, and the third refill is called °­°ù³Ü²õ±ð³ÙÃ¥°ù. When you buy coffee in a café, you can pay for it according to the number of cups you will drink.

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Coffee is valuable for Swedes, but it was not easy for them to get their hands on it. Coffee has been prohibited numerous times in Sweden due to health concerns. Despite the rules, people could not stop themselves from sipping this delightful drink.

So much so that a Swedish king, King Gustav III of Sweden, by carrying out one of the world’s first clinical trials on two prisoners.

Wanting to prove the harm of coffee, the king ordered one of the two identical twin prisoners to drink three pots of coffee a day for the rest of his life, while his brother was to drink three pots of tea. If they did as the king said, their death sentence would be changed to life imprisonment.

The king expected that the coffee-drinking prisoner would die much sooner so that he could prove the harm of coffee. However, the king’s expectations were completely frustrated, and the last person to die of all the people involved in the experiment (including the doctors) was the one who drank three pots of coffee a day.
As you see, in Sweden, where coffee has even been the subject of an experiment, people are quite free to drink their coffee as they wish.

Fortunetelling Over Coffee in Turkey

Turkish coffee (also known as Greek coffee) is not brewed in the same way as espresso or filter coffee is. It is prepared in a cezve, which is a type of cooking appliance. The coffee is granular rather than fine-grained, and it settles to the bottom of the cup after cooking. After drinking your coffee, this leaves coffee sediment at the bottom of your cup. Wait a few moments after placing your cup upside down on the little plate.

While the cup is turned upside down, the sediment falls onto the plate by gravity, forming a variety of shapes. Finally, people who know how to read coffee fortunes—and such people are plentiful in Turkish society—interpret the images and forecast the coffee drinker’s future.

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Turkish women enjoy reading each other’s fortunes after drinking coffee; it’s a fun social activity, but there are now people who earn a living off of reading coffee fortunes. There’s even a coffee fortune-telling app. Faladdin is an intriguing entrepreneurship story for those who are interested.

More Words About Coffee

Cafephile: A coffee enthusiast.

Cupping: A method of tasting employed by coffee specialists.

Cuppers: Professionals who taste coffee.

Moka Pot: A stove-top or electric coffee maker that brews coffee by passing hot water under pressure from steam through ground coffee. Luigi Di Ponti, an Italian engineer, invented it and named it after the Yemeni city of Mocha.

Latte Art: A way of preparing coffee that involves putting microfoam into a shot of espresso, resulting in a pattern or decorating by simply “drawing” on the latte’s surface.

For further words, you can visit in the New York Times.

Language Nomad’s tour will continue with biweekly posts. If you enjoyed it, you can follow me, the author, to be informed when a new edition is released.

Till next time,
Gulsun