杯

sake cup; cupfuls

Kanji 1685

If you invite someone out for drinks, use saké cups, make a toast, and count how many drinks you've had, 杯 will come in very handy. And if you drink till you're tipsy and full in a cheap drinking spot filled with people, you'll need 杯 four more times. As if this kanji weren't useful enough, you can also use it when counting octopi (which you might do after enough drinks)!

Revision history:

Oct. 31, 2023: p. 12: Added a translation of the 2nd part of the bathtub sign.

July 2, 2021: p. 2: Clarified what the Joyo yomi of this kanji are.

Jan. 11, 2020:

• p. 2: Etymology Box: Replaced the old Henshall etymology with the new one. 
• p. 6: Slightly changed the definition of 頂く.
• p. 21: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

May 22, 2015: 

• p. 9 sidebar: In the vocabulary under a sentence, I changed the definition of 年 from "counter for years" to "year."
• p. 13: I had misidentified 一杯食わせた as the past tense of the potential form of 一杯食わす. Although 一杯食わす does have a potential form of 一杯食わせる, that's not what  the keyword in the sample sentence represents. Instead, that 一杯食わせた is the past tense of 一杯食わせる, which is synonymous with 一杯食わす. After correcting the error, I reorganized the text a bit.

Dec. 5, 2014: 

• p. 1: Fixed a typo.
• p. 6: On the very last line I added よいつぶれる as the yomi for 酔いつぶれる (to get drunk).

July 4, 2014: Originally published.