Same could be said of most clutter in the game. Plates? Hammer? Tongs? etc etc etc . . .
Its just there to make to make the world more detailed. And for roleplaying i quess.
I always carrry a tankard with me since the drinking animation shows you drinking from one
Try one of the general stores, like Belethor in Whiterun, they might actually pay you for them. Probably not much, though. But like someone else said, that kind of stuff is just there to give the world some detail. Like the embalming tools and old linen and ruined books in various dungeons. I actually appreciate that you can pick things like that up and whatnot, as opposed to be static objects, makes the game world feel more real and not just a decorative set piece.
Tankards are there explicitly to go flying across the room when you Fus Ro Dah at the Jarl's dinner table.
Tankards are just there to be there for show in the game to give it some sort of realism for role players.
Yup. For realism and because all the tables that they set up in skyrim would look stupid with all of those plates and food but no drink. Lack of silverware at times makes sense. Everyone uses their hands for food. Beverages are more difficult.
As Todd mentioned in an interview once, they add copious amounts of clutter to the game to add realism and to give the player something to sort through while searching for valuable loot to make gameplay more interesting. It is one of the few things in the series that has not been removed through Todd's relentless simplicifaction process.
I don't know - when else are you going to have a valid reason to say the word 'tankard'? It just never comes up...
I also find that after seeing stuff in dungeons enough, I start collecting them for home use. Too bad there isn't a sanitize/sterilize/wash spell for added realism.
'Can I get you a tankard of mead? Here you go! I know, smells kind of odd but what would you expect from inside a 200 year old crypt...'
Tankards make a good gift for those pesky beggars that ask you for coin. Also its some mature fun to get a whole bunch of tankards, break into someones house in the middle of the night, then drop tankards all over their house!
I used to line up Kettles and Cauldrons in dungeon hallways, and Fus Ro Dah them right into my enemies. Was pretty hilarious, especially when it actually killed them.
They're objects in the world your player inhabits. Why wouldn't you be able to pick them up?
Or just run up and down the dinner table, or throw them around with telekinesis