Answer for question 4452.
Jul. 14th, 2015 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deathpixie[Error: unknown template qotd]The "Ballarat Cup". I didn't actually realise this was particular to our family until I reached university. A Ballarat Cup is a cup of tea (or other drinkable liquid in a cup or a glass), which is only three-quarters full. So, if someone offered you a drink of some kind, and didn't fill it to a reasonably accepted level, you'd accuse them of giving you a "Ballarat Cup".
The origins of this particular family saying are from a story my grandfather used to tell, of going to visit a certain aunt who lived in Ballarat and who was known for always being stingy with the teapot. After a while, the family got used to calling a short-poured glass/cup a Ballarat Cup, and the saying stuck. It wasn't until I used it to a uni friend in Melbourne that I realised it wasn't a common saying at all, but one restricted to my mother's side of the family.
The origins of this particular family saying are from a story my grandfather used to tell, of going to visit a certain aunt who lived in Ballarat and who was known for always being stingy with the teapot. After a while, the family got used to calling a short-poured glass/cup a Ballarat Cup, and the saying stuck. It wasn't until I used it to a uni friend in Melbourne that I realised it wasn't a common saying at all, but one restricted to my mother's side of the family.
