You say that something is not your cup of tea when it is unconvincing or fails to satisfy. It is mostly used in the negative form, but you can also use it in the positive form to say that you like something. An equivalent expression in English is It doesn’t float my boat. You can say it in positive (for instance, Ok, whatever floats your boat) or in the negative form.
Examples
Football is not my cup of tea, but my brother loves it.
Rococo staircases are not my cup of tea.
Hip Hop is much more my cup of tea than techno music.
It is not my cup of tea in other languages.
It is not my cup of tea in Catalan
In Catalan, a very usual and idiomatic equivalent expression for It is not my cup of tea is No em fa el pes (literally, it doesn’t do me the weight) or No m’acaba de fer el pes (literally, It fails to do me the weight). Yeah, we know it sounds weird, but it is quite widespread.
It is not my cup of tea in (Mandarin) Chinese
The equivalent idiom in Mandarin Chinese is 不是我的菜 (literally, This is not my dish).
It is not my cup of tea in Czech
In Czech you can say Není to můj šálek kávy/čaje (literally, It’s not my cup of coffee/tea).
It is not my cup of tea in French
In French, just like in English, you can say Ce n’est pas ma tasse de thé (literally, It is not my cup of tea) or C’est (pas) mon truc (FR) (literally, it’s not my thing), to say that you don’t like something. The familiar C’est (pas) mon délire (literally, It’s not my delirium) works as well in circles of young friends. Another familiar expression is C’est (pas) mon dada (literally, It’s not my hobby), which is older. It works in negative form but is mostly used affirmatively.
It is not my cup of tea in German
In German you can say Das ist nicht mein Ding (literally, It is not my thing).
It is not my cup of tea in Italian
In Italian you can say Non fa per me (literally, it does not do for me). It is very similar to the Catalan expression No fa per mi. Other expressions in Italian you may use to express the same idea are Non è il mio genere (literally, It is not my genre), Non è il mio forte (Informal, literally, It is not my strength), Non è roba per me (colloquial and slightly regional, literally, These are not clothes for me), Non è di mio gradimento (formal, literally, It is not my liking), Non è di mio gusto (formal, literally, It is not of my taste).
It is not my cup of tea in Japanese
In Japanese you can say 好みではない (pronounced Konomide wanai, literally, It doesn´t enter my ki).
It is not my cup of tea in Malay
In Malai language you can say Bukan bidang aku la (literally, not my field).
It is not my cup of tea in (Brazilian) Portuguese
In Brazilian Portuguese the equivalent expression is Não é minha praia (literally, this is not my beach).
It is not my cup of tea in Russian
It is not my cup of tea in Russian is Это не моё / Это не в моём вкусе, pronounced Eto ne moyo / Eto ne v moyom vkuse (Literally: It’s not mine / It’s not to my liking).
It is not my cup of tea in Spanish
In Spanish you may say No es santo de mi devotión (literally, He is not a saint of my devotion) or No es plato de mi gusto (literally, It is not a dish of my taste *).
And that’s pretty much it. Thank you for visiting Nuts (Tocat del Bolet)!
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