tea

[Frank van den Eeden]

In the UK, when people ask you "what would you like for tea?"
that has nothing to do with tea.
It means "what would you like to eat for your evening meal?"
You can have potatoes, meat and vegetables, with a glass of mineral water, and still they'll say "we're having tea".

afternoon tea :
Here they serve tea with a variety of sandwiches, scones, maybe chocolates,etc. It is quite an event, usually in an old cosy place, a little posh, with a lace tablecloth, beautiful china, silver teapots, lots of little trays and fringes...delicious !

[Veronica]

I thought tea was at 5 o'clock for the british.
In Spanish we call that Merienda, is that the evening meal? isn't dinner an evening meal? I always confused afternoon with evening, sorry!!

[Frank van den Eeden]

I am Belgian, and I thought "tea" was something like your "merienda",
but it's not.
I lived and worked in England for several years, and was also surprised at first.
Tea is your cena (around 6pm or so).

[Veronica]

But our cena is about 10 pm.
I'm thinking tea is like the american dinner, don't they have dinner at 6 pm?

[Frank van den Eeden]

there's dinner and supper also ...
still they call the evening meal "tea"

I suppose (= my feeling) that dinner is, in fact, also the evening meal, but a bit more "official", not just an evening meal.

I think you go out for dinner in a smart restaurant, and have tea at home, or perhaps in the local pub.

I never heard "supper" (only when I studied English).

[Leslie M]

Well,well! Now I am a total outcast. In Puerto Rico our merienda has two schedules. Once at 10:00 am and another at 3:00 pm. Lunch at one time in the recent past used to be at 4:00 pm and our dinner or supper was at 9-10 pm. Now lunch is at noon and the tea without the liquid tea is at six pm. Finally the liquid tea is taken for it's calming effect and for times like this when I wonder how tea is done in let's say China.

[kellymellars]

Actually, you will find that Afternoon Tea is served from three to five in most restaurants in England. It is as you said little sandwiches, cakes, little pastries and scones, and of course tea which is served with milk.
Tea was invented in the Victorian times as a distraction, because the ladies got bored. They felt that there was such a long time between lunch and dinner, so they invented afternoon tea.
I love tea-time so I am going to make sure that it does not get squashed in this forum. I've met my friends for tea at Harrods and other places in London, as well as in our homes. Afternoon Tea is alive and kicking! There are tea rooms everywhere in England.
Hmm... Frank, did you live in the North of England or Scotland? because that's where they call dinner "tea". They,in fact, have Breakfast, lunch and tea. Everywhere else they have Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

/

[Frank van den Eeden]

Kellymellars

We LOVE afternoon tea !
When Sabrina went to London and asked for some tips,
this is what I wrote :
“My wife recommends :
The BritishMuseum, Victoria and AlbertMuseum, Piccadilly Circus, BuckinghamPalace.
And most of all afternoon tea at Harrods .”

I lived in Wakefield.
Wakefield is a few miles from Leeds, West Yorkshire.
That is in the north of England.

[mem286]

Originally Posted by Frank van den Eeden

Kellymellars

We LOVE afternoon tea !
When Sabrina went to London and asked for some tips,
this is what I wrote :
“My wife recommends :
The BritishMuseum, Victoria and AlbertMuseum, Piccadilly Circus, BuckinghamPalace.
And most of all afternoon tea at Harrods .”

I remember Frank...

VERY, VERY interesting information Kelly and Frank... Thank you both!

[vicente]

Originally Posted by Frank van den Eeden

there's dinner and supper also ...
still they call the evening meal "tea"

I suppose (= my feeling) that dinner is, in fact, also the evening meal, but a bit more "official", not just an evening meal.

I think you go out for dinner in a smart restaurant, and have tea at home, or perhaps in the local pub.

I never heard "supper" (only when I studied English).

Frank:

I don't want to hijack the tea thread, just to explain how dinner and supper are used in the U.S

Most people in the U.S. now refer to the evening meal as dinner and supper is rarely heard except in the home and in rural America, mostly in the South, but it is still in use.

The noon meal is generally called lunch but it is also called dinner depending on where you live. In some parts of the South, especially rural areas, dinner is at noon. And those who call the noon meal dinner refer to the evening meal as supper.

I recently heard a friend from Canada say supper and he told me that it is used is some areas there in much the same way as I described. He was from a farming family and that I think is where you will hear supper used most. I grew up eating breakfast, dinner and supper. But now I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I have also heard supper used to describe a very late meal that was eaten well after normal dinner hours...as in, "we had a late supper".