Source
r/CasualUK•
LoveMyLibrary

What is "tea?"

I'm in the U.S. I've never understood what is meant when British people refer to their "tea" time. Please help me understand. Here's what I mean... I'll watch a show or read a book in which it's clear that "tea" means a mid-afternoon break involving tea and sweets. Then I'll read something that refers to "the family had tea and then blah blah" in which the context leads me to think they're talking about dinnertime being tea.

UPDATE: Thank you so much to all who replied! It's been great fun reading it all. Very enlightening, especially for someone like myself who doesn't drink tea at all, unless it's summertime, and it's a tall glass of iced tea. Must run, I'm off to my "dinner" (evening meal).

Posted Nov 12, 2019, 5:51 PM UTC · edited

320
SquireBevPot as many balls as you can•

It can mean the evening meal, particularly for working class folk and northerners.

Or it can mean afternoon tea - scones, tea, dainty sandwiches etc.

21
CMDaddyPig•

Breakfast, dinner, tea in our house. Supper before bed, if you felt daring.

Caused all sorts of arguments with my wife when we met... 😂

7
sam-major•

Ah hem northerner's?

Yea what this guy said

-1
BurdonLane•

Tea is sometimes known as supper. Dinner is the formal description. Tea is never lunch.

‘Let’s have a cuppa’ That’s referring to having a cup of tea.

‘What’s for tea?’ What’s for dinner?’

14
rsl12005•

In some parts of the UK (particularly the north) lunch can be called dinner and then dinner is called tea. This would be so that you don't have 2 meals called dinner...hope that helps?

11
BECKYISHERESeagulls Are Wonderful Birds•

sweets are small candies, not something to have with tea

sweet on the other hand is a type of afters like pudding

6
pinkdragoneggs•

In some regions tea is used as another word for dinnertime/evening meal, e.g. ‘what are you having for tea?’ ‘I had pie and chips for tea last night’.

It can also be used in the context of ‘afternoon tea’ which involves having a cup of tea, sandwiches, and scones with jam and cream. It’s traditionally associated with the upper class, but nowadays it’s often considered a nice social event that you might do for something like a birthday.

4
26326312There ain't no sausage like a Lincolnshire sausage •

Tea is your evening meal where I live.

The three meals of the day are:

Breakfast - morning meal

Dinner - midday meal

Tea - Evening meal

Tea is the biggest meal of the day.

4
Yucares•

Hey guys, I was also wondering how meals work in the UK. I usually eat at around 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm (11am and 5pm being just snacks so you don't have to count these). How would you call these meals? I always call them breakfast > 2nd breakfast/snack > lunch > tea/snack > dinner/supper/evening meal. I never know if it's correct and I've heard British people use so many different names for meals, I'm confused.

2
CandleJakkAle Afficionado•

Breakfast - Elevenses - Lunch - Tea/Dinner - Supper is the order I would place them in based on your timings.

3
fatboyfat1981•

Names for meals vary according to the location & environment someone grew up in.

From your timings, I’d call those Breakfast>snack>lunch>tea>dinner however there isn’t a hard rule- sorry!

2
MarkMCFC•

Dinner is the largest meal of the day, which can be eaten around noon or in the evening.

Tea is a smaller meal

Breakfast - Dinner - Tea

Or

Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner

1†
winch25•

There is also 'dindins' which is a meal fed to a pet animal towards the end of the day

9
stateitI wanna be instamatic, I wanna be a frozen pea•

Or an infant or toddler.

2
winch25•

We just tend to give them dog food tbh...

3
_rickjamesDavid Icke Rides a Bike•

Breakfast > Lunch > Dinner

Please ignore all these northerners, tea is either a delcious drink or a period of a game of cricket where they go off for tea

1†
6beeskneesSouthron Casual•

I'm a southerner and call my evening meal "tea", always have done.

2
the_fourth_child•

This question hurt my brain and I’m English

-1
3rdWorldBorn•

Baby don't hurt me.

Don't hurt me.

Typhoo.

-6
stateitI wanna be instamatic, I wanna be a frozen pea•

Happy Cake Day.

0