Us Brits are famous for a few things; politeness, fish and chips, bad weather, balconing…
Arguably the most famous thing is a tea, more commonly described as a cuppa or a brew. Which most of the world don’t actually think is that nice!
Drinking tea really is a national pastime, with about 165 million cups drunk in Britain every day. In fact I’m drinking one as I write this. Whilst tea dates back almost 5000 years to 2732BC, it became popular in Britain around 1660…imagine how many cups have been drunk since then!
It’s no surprise then if you’re feeling tired, you have a lovely cup of tea. If you’re sad, you have a lovely cup of tea. If you’re happy, you have a lovely cup of tea. If you’re…well you get the idea.
However tea isn’t just for drinking, we also have lots of expressions about tea.
‘To be your cup of tea’
When we like something, it’s common to describe it as ‘my cup of tea’. On the flipside, when we don’t like something, we can say that it’s ‘not my cup of tea. For me, spending Sunday afternoon on the sofa watching films is my cup of tea!
‘Storm in a teacup’
Sometimes people get very stressed and angry about little problems. In these situations, you can say the problem is a “storm in a teacup”. Imagine someone pushes in front of you in a queue. If you get very angry, your friend might say ‘Calm down! It doesn’t matter, it’s just a storm in a teacup!’
‘Not for all the tea in China’
When you really don’t want to do something, eat something or speak to someone, the idiom ‘not for all the tea in China’ is for you. For example, do you like cauliflower? I don’t. So if my friend offered to cook it for dinner for me, I’d say “not for all the tea in China!”
‘As useful as a chocolate teapot’
When something (or someone!) is completely useless, we say that it’s ‘as useful as a chocolate teapot’. For instance, lots of people would say that most politicians are as useful as a chocolate teapot!
So, do you like tea? Send us a message and tell us why or why not.
Ben
