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You’ve probably heard incorrect stories about the origin of the terms “Cup of Joe” and Americano.

Despite the pervasive story that “Americano” got its name from American soldiers diluting espresso shots during WWII, the term didn’t show up until the 1970s. Unfortunately nobody seems to have a definitive take of how “Americano” actually came about.

In another false etymology, there’s a story that “cup of Joe” also comes from coffee drinking American G.I. Joes but this is just a myth as well. Although just as with “Americano” the true origin has never been proved, fact-checking site Snopes believes the phrase most likely came from the old coffee slang, “jamoke.” The slang phrase, “cup of jamoke,” became corrupted into a “cup of Joe.”  Read More

By Tom Lang, Huffington Post