# British words in code **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045 "2014-06-04T17:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/81 "2014-06-09T11:23:43Z")
Nevertheless offering a cup of tea is a gesture loaded with kindness and inclusiveness. The Japanese raise this to an exquisite level with the tea ceremony, but England and its colonial outposts use this simple politeness to cross barriers and create warmth. It isn’t easy to express but it is real. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/82 "2014-06-09T11:46:01Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Nevertheless offering a cup of tea is a gesture loaded with kindness and inclusiveness. Here’s a good example of that: > **[York Mosque praised for offering EDL protesters tea](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-22689552)** > > A mosque is praised for serving tea and biscuits to English Defence League supporters after the far-right group arranged a demonstration there. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/83 "2014-06-09T11:48:48Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “Surgery” – to mean a doctor’s clinic, where surgery is unlikely to be performed. > > This is doubly odd considering the intense mutual rivalry between physicians and surgeons in British medical tradition. (Surgeons even insist on being addressed as “Mister” because they are beyond mere “doctors”) I go to my doctor’s (GP) surgery and have never thought of it otherwise. However your point about surgeons made me smile. A few years ago there was an effort to set up a local Medico/Legal society, a convivial creature which exists in a few other cities. We (the lawyers) thought this meant doctors in general - GPs plus specialist surgeons. Unfortunately the surgeons were totally non-plussed - why would mere GPs be invited to join? The venture died still-born. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/84 "2014-06-09T11:55:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Here’s a good example of that: > [York Mosque praised for offering EDL protesters tea - BBC News](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-22689552) Well done. The offering of a cup of tea reduces the situation and takes the energy out of the agonists. There is no way they can flame hotly when confronted with a cup of tea. Fortunately there is no right to bear arms/submachine guns in this situation. Deep breaths, as salaam and handshakes all around. ---
**Author:** ![ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/85 "2014-06-09T12:15:23Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > True. Down here in the antipodal isles we look forward to tea time. The evening meal. Posh types refer to dinner but for me, that is a midday meal - lunch. It probably has a Scottish origin given the south of New Zealand is Scotland redux. > > And for what its worth, morning break is “morning tea” and afternoon break is “afternoon tea”. Or smoko, but that is a workplace use which is fading. In Scotland, ‘tea time’ is generally the evening meal. But also used if it’s time for the morning or afternoon break and a cup of tea is involved. Dinner is lunch hence the term ‘school dinners’ and school ‘dinner time’. ‘Afternoon tea’ would either mean the afternoon casual cup of tea or the ‘posh’ tea room experience with cakes and sandwiches. Depends on the context. When my mother was a teen in 60s Glasgow, she’d trek a few miles home for lunch which would be the main meal of the day- meat and two veg plus soup or pudding/desert. The evening meal ‘tea’ with be something light like a sandwich. Both involved drinking tea 🙂 But I use ‘lunch’ personally- having spent years ‘down south’ in England. And ‘dinner’ for the evening meal. We have tea at about 5pm. Killed me the first term at uni when I discovered that 6pm seems to be the earliest my friends would eat! ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/86 "2014-06-09T12:42:08Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Well done. > > The offering of a cup of tea reduces the situation and takes the energy out of the agonists. There is no way they can flame hotly when confronted with a cup of tea. > > Fortunately there is no right to bear arms/submachine guns in this situation. Deep breaths, as salaam and handshakes all around. …and just think what might have happened if everyone had sat down for a chat over a nice cuppa and a McVitie’s Digestive biscuit, rather than dumping all that lovely tea into Boston Harbour. ---
**Author:** ![ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/87 "2014-06-09T12:51:17Z")
With a tub of M&S chocolate mini bites that whole fling with self-determination might have been a historical footnote of the continued British Empire… ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/88 "2014-06-09T13:18:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It might also help to know that Brits are a lot more likely than Americans to affectionately use insulting terms to their friends. If a Brit calls someone a “wanker”, they might be really angry at them, or they might just be kidding around: You have to figure it out from tone of voice and context. You’ve clearly never spent time with me any my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/89 "2014-06-09T14:33:53Z")
> [@ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime](#): > > In Scotland, ‘tea time’ is generally the evening meal. But also used if it’s time for the morning or afternoon break and a cup of tea is involved. > > ! Mancunian Karl Pilkington also refers to “have something in for tea” when he’s talking about stopping at the supermarket to pick something up for that evening’s dinner. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/90 "2014-06-09T17:22:57Z")
Apropos of nothing really, but I first saw these [“Breakfast Lunch Dinner Supper” plates](http://forum.kvinneguiden.no/index.php?showtopic=814055)(image from a Norse webpage, of course) on Ashen’s\*, so clearly there is enough of this established four-meal culture to allow commerical exploitation. I wonder if Taco Bell could exploit this for [their FourthMeal campaign](http://www.tacobell.com/food/menu/fourth-meal/) ([Taco Bell has franchises in the UK](http://www.tacobelluk.co.uk/)- do they have a Fifth Meal campaign there?) \*you get your British culture from proper TV programs, I’ll get mine from wacked out dodgy YouTube channels and old Britcoms - hmm, is Top Gear a proper TV program - well, it is a program… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/91 "2014-06-09T17:25:02Z")
Meal-name terminology is confusing even within the US. “Breakfast” is the morning meal; everyone agrees on that (unless it’s combined with lunch into brunch). “Lunch” is always the midday meal, and “supper” is always the evening meal. “Dinner” is whichever meal is the largest or most important of the day, and usually displaces the other term. For most Americans, the largest meal is usually the evening one, and so we speak of “breakfast, lunch, dinner”. In some parts of the country, though (especially rural areas), the largest meal is usually the midday one, and so in those places one speaks of “breakfast, dinner, supper”. The British “tea”, then, would be more equivalent to “supper” than to “dinner”. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/92 "2014-06-09T17:31:47Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > … > I wonder if Taco Bell could exploit this for [their FourthMeal campaign](http://www.tacobell.com/food/menu/fourth-meal/) ([Taco Bell has franchises in the UK](http://www.tacobelluk.co.uk/)- do they have a Fifth Meal campaign there?) > … Judging by the link you’ve provided, Taco Bell has a grand total of three outlets in the UK, so it’ll be a pretty small campaign! ---
**Author:** ![Batistuta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58956e/32.png) [@Batistuta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batistuta)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/93 "2014-06-09T17:38:20Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > hmm, is Top Gear a proper TV program - well, it is a program… You mean “programme”, surely 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mtullius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@mtullius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtullius)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/94 "2014-06-09T18:39:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The British “tea”, then, would be more equivalent to “supper” than to “dinner”. Now let’s talk about meat tea. What, tea made out of meat?:smack: ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/95 "2014-06-09T18:50:57Z")
> [@mtullius](#): > > Now let’s talk about meat tea. What, tea made out of meat?:smack: What’s meat tea? ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/96 "2014-06-09T18:55:28Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > What’s meat tea? Bovril? ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/97 "2014-06-09T19:01:04Z")
> [@Batistuta](#): > > You mean “programme”, surely 😃 Strewth!\* :smack: \*OK, that word (with the meaning of dismay, not surprize) I first heard from the rather cool and amusing “[British Leyland - the Quality Connection](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTCfJKNE2hg)” short, which in true British Nationalized Car Industry fashion begins (and ends) with a horrific fatal car accident… :eek:. I’ve seen it pop up in lots of other places recently too. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/98 "2014-06-09T19:59:54Z")
Infrequently in the U.S., _punter_ is used to mean “a dabbler, a dilletante”. Perhaps it’s an extension of definition (e) from the OED linked upthread. … I bet we could have a 10-page thread on just the exclamatory and idiomatic uses of the isolated word “_Right …_” in British conversation. 😃 As it’s used in film, mildly sarcastic uses of "_Right …_ seem to condlusively outnumber straightforward earnest uses of the same. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/99 "2014-06-09T20:42:55Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > What’s meat tea? Dinner (evening meal) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045/100 "2014-06-09T21:03:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Dinner (evening meal) Blimey, never heard that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-words-in-code/690045.md?page=6)