Politics+of+the+United+Kingdom

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= British Tea Culture = //By Telma Stubberud Haslund//


 * ~ Tea's origin ||
 * ~ How Tea Came To England ||

Tea is nowadays considered essentially to the British society, as a big part of their culture. It seem to us outsiders that this culture has existed forever, and still is an important part of everyday life in England and the whole of Britain. But this tea culture has to be deeper than just a daily rutine, if not, why would famous directors and authors constantly refer to it in their litterature and films? Expressions as "That's not my cup of tea" and "Let's put the kettle on", is frequently used in many different context's. If you went to the movies and you felt that the film really appealed to you, it would be naturrally to say "That film was exactly my cup of tea", to express how much you liked it, and how much it was the way you like films to be. On the other hand, you could also say "sorry, but he is not my cup of tea", if your friend tried to fix you up with a guy and you did not dislike him, he was just not your kind of guy. As for "put the kettle on", it is a harder expression to define. I want to show you a part from the lyrics of "I don't know what I can save you from" by Kings of Convinience, beacuse i think the way they use this expression is very descriptive.



// "I asked you to come over, and within half an hour // // You were at my door // // I had never really known you // // But I realized that the one you were before // // Had changed into somebody for whom // // I wouldn't mind to put the kettle on // // Still I don't know what I can save you from // // I don't know what I can save you from" // 1

I think "somebody for whom I wouldn'tmind to put the kettle on" means that it is a person interesting enough to spend time with, have a cup of tea with, and talk with. If you are making tea, you will have to put the kettle on, but in Britain tea is much more used as a social centerpiece. Therefore the expression has become more a way to say "we have a lot to talk about, but first i'll make us a vup of tea".

 But where do this tea culture comes from, and how did tea become such a British beverage? The aim of this wiki is to consider the factors that make tea is so important to the British by first having a look at the history of tea and discussing the tea culture in modern Britain.

=Sources:=

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