Tea Time

Discussion in 'U.K.' started by Therefore..., Oct 6, 2004.

  1. Therefore...

    Therefore... Antidentite

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    Chalk this up to being an American who's been brainwashed by the media, but I was wondering: How integral is tea time to the British way of life? How many people on these boards celebrate it each and every day? Do you have tea AND biscuits, or just tea? I'm just curious about the whole thing.
     
  2. Paul

    Paul Cheap and Cheerful

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    Any time you want a cup of tea is tea time, if you want biscuits you can have biscuits but needn't feel obliged. Some poeple even go as far as having coffeee at tea time. Also, depending on where you come from, tea time in the afternoon can sometimes involve having sandwiches without having any tea. This wouldn't happen in the morning.
     
  3. lisabeeny

    lisabeeny Member

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    TEA TIME....some people have 'high tea' with the best china and biccies/cakes etc, like old fashioned elevenses I suppose....depends on where you come from like already mentioned. Would it be too judgemental to say that people at the 'posher' end of society tend to do this more? It all comes down to upbringing, ideals, tradition and all that.

    I personally class tea-time as being when I have my main meal of the day - usually in the afternoon/evening. As in "What do you fancy for tea tonight?".

    Tea, as in the drink, can be enjoyed any time of the day....things always seem better after a cuppa I feel.
    :)
     
  4. Paul

    Paul Cheap and Cheerful

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    Remember also, that elevenses don't have to be had at 11 o'clock and can also involve a tradition that is known as having a 'coffee morning'
     
  5. Claire

    Claire Senior Member

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    I have breakfast around 8-9am

    Don't bother with elevenses / brunch but do usually have another cuppa at around 10-11am (not a fan of coffee during the day)

    lunch at Noon

    I have tea around 3pm... Cup of tea and a snack... flapjack or something

    Dinner is around 6-7pm... sometimes have a coffee then

    Supper before bed

    Suprisingly I am not fat:p

    But please don't confuse Tea with Dinner (looks sternly at Paddy):p
     
  6. Paul

    Paul Cheap and Cheerful

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    I was brought up having tea at dinner time and dinner at tea time, supper never came into it
     
  7. Smartie.uk

    Smartie.uk Member

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    i eat when im hungry and drink when im thirsty.. i have no need for clasifications or specified times...


    but when i was a working man obviously i had lunch at lunch time :p

    but i've never been much of a breakfast person
     
  8. Claire

    Claire Senior Member

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    I'm always hungry:p


    You know, it must be a regional thing this tea / dinner thing?
     
  9. Paul

    Paul Cheap and Cheerful

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    Well we had tea in the evening and dinner at lunch time ... but everyone I was at school with did it the other way round.

    I know I had roots in the Lake District though 'cos I traced them ~ so maybe its an ancestral memory thing thats been passed down.
     
  10. Ellie-Rose

    Ellie-Rose Le Muppet

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    I eat wehn I'm hungry too...

    But usually its.. breakie at 9ish.. and lunch around 12.. and dinner at 6 or 7..

    and major snackage inbetween... I should really be fat.. But I guess I'm lucky :eek:
     
  11. boringtree

    boringtree Custom User Title

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    its a pity the tea time generation has or is dissapearing. ide love to have a set time to stop doing things and come in for tea and cake.

    i guess i do it when football and stuff is on. i usually make some tea and enjoy a massive sambo with it
     
  12. Ellie-Rose

    Ellie-Rose Le Muppet

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    cannie beat a cream tea :O
     
  13. showmet

    showmet olen tomppeli

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    I'd say that high tea with scones (pronounced "scones", not "scones") is an integral part of the day for most people in this country. Around 3.15pm all over the country, work stops in all the factories and shops and everyone sits down to enjoy their weak milky tea from proper china cups.
     
  14. Paul

    Paul Cheap and Cheerful

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    Do you think that Therefore is confused enough yet?
     
  15. boringtree

    boringtree Custom User Title

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    the powers of his username suggests he always finds a conclusive point, therefor ruling out the possiblilty of confusion
     
  16. Therefore...

    Therefore... Antidentite

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    That's an interesting theory.

    Not as much as you'd think. One thing I've gathered from all of this is that tea time is one of those cultural things that's ingrained in everybody. But it's been around for so long that it has an innate quality and different people change it in certain ways to suit them.

    Before this, I just thought of tea time as a certain time when everybody stops to enjoy some tea and scones, sandwiches or whatever. But now I can see that it is much more. So am I to understand that tea time can mean a full meal like lunch or dinner?
     
  17. Alomiakoda

    Alomiakoda Boniface McSporran

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    Me too :eek:

    It's taken me 16 years to learn they're actually called lunch & dinner :p
     
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