best way to use cp?

[Jonathan Horne]

ok, tell them dumb linux user how to properly copy directories recursivly,
so he can stop overwritng directories with source files.

/humor

ok seriously, tho, i think im doing it wrong.  last night i blasted some
directories, and when i looked at the destination of where i was supposed to
be copying to, it was full of all kinds of junk that was supposed to be in
the top level of the directories i was copying.

example, i want to copy /mnt/usb1/path/oldfolder  (the folded all its
recursive contents) into /home/mydir

im pretty sure i have the syntax wrong, so could someone enlighten me?

thanks!
jonathan