student asking question

Is "that" used here to emphasize something?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"That" is used here as an article for "super cheap cup of Deli Joe". "That" can be used as an article when the person/people being spoken to is/are familiar with the noun "that" is indicating. "that super cheap cup of Deli Joe" means "the cheap coffee from the Deli everyone knows about". "That" implies that this type of coffee is well-known, so the speaker does not have to explain about what type of coffee it is. Many Americans are familiar with cheap coffee similar to "a cup of Deli Joe", so "that" is used as an article for "super cheap cup of Deli Joe". Since the speaker is American, she likely imagines the viewers of the video being american and thinks they will be familiar with this type of coffee.

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