is "a coffee" grammaticaly correct?...why?

[kenji]

thanks for those comments!
i am from the Philippines and i am teaching asians here...Koreans and Japanese....
it became a concern...
.................................................. ...........................................
in the case of "a paper" and "paper", etc., i think i did it well...
.................................................. ................................................
does it mean " a coffee" is just prevalent in the UK and some parts of the US?...
I GUESS Raymund Murphy (Intermediate Grammar Book) is a Britishman who published(or studied?) his book in the US...i am not quite sure about this.

i can barely understand...i wish to hear more, thanks!

[RonBee]

I can say with some confidence that you can't expect to hear "a coffee" in the USA. Instead, people say "a cup of coffee". (NYC is, apparently, an exception to that rule.)

Say:

I can barely understand.
I wish to hear more.

~R

[eflnow]

i am teaching grammar...
i am very much bothered by this sentence in our grammar book (intermediate grammar by raymund murphy) explaining the use of some nouns that can be countable and uncountable...
the other examples were fine except for "I'd like a coffee" to refer to a cup of coffee......if this is grammatically correct, would "a milk", "a water", etc. do?

Marcella Frank, in Modern English - a practical reference guide, writes:
When the referent of a noun that is usually noncountable is thought of as a contained item, the noun becomes countable and may be used with a - Please bring us a milk and two coffees.- This usage is regarded as informal.
A used with noncountable nouns may have the sense of a kind of, the kind of, or some.
e.g. That restaurant serves a special French wine. (a kind of)
An education which prepares the student for his role in life is the best kind of education. (the kind of)
A knowledge of history for us all. (some)


I must admit, though, that I, as a Canadian, have never used the expression "a milk".

[rewboss]

I can say with some confidence that you can't expect to hear "a coffee" in the USA. Instead, people say "a cup of coffee". (NYC is, apparently, an exception to that rule.)

In this article on the National Public Radio's website, mention is made of "a cappucino" and "a drip coffee", in both cases meaning "a cup of...". This usage may be rare in the States, but not unheard of.

Another meaning of "a coffee" could be "a type of coffee". This example from Gourmet coffee shop – Arabica .com: "Cappuccino is a strong coffee with frothy cream, topped with a pinch of powdered chocolate."