Ruby, how's this for a deal? I'll give you some real British phrases about tea, if you'll rewrite your post in proper English. Here are some tips: 1. Remove all that awful 'cuz' and 'gonna' nonsense. You're an educated young woman, not a cartoon character! Replace it with normal words: 'I am going to' and 'because'. 2. Punctuate and capitalise properly. 'Cant' is not a word and 'i' is not a word. 3. Try not to produce these characters:

. They're very distracting. Let me explain why I'm asking you to do this. When native speakers write this lazy and sloppy language (cuz, gonna, i, cant), it gives us the impression that they're saying 'I don't care whether I'm writing English properly or not!'. It makes the writer look rude and childish. Native English speakers and English teachers don't mind making an effort to try to understand what non-natives are trying to say when they make mistakes with their grammar or vocabulary. But when genuine mistakes are mixed in with these sloppy non-words (cuz, gonna, i, cant), it makes this job much harder. It is irritating and stressful to have to read texts full of this kind of thing. I hope you understand what I'm trying to explain. Please do everybody a favour - write this out again in normal English, and I'll help you with your project.

What do we mean when we say 'tea'? It can be one of several things: 1. In all of the conversations above, 'tea' means a hot drink, made from a blend of various black teas from Kenya, Sri Lanka (Ceylon tea) and India (Assam). We buy this ready-blended, either loose or in one-cup teabags. Many Europeans call this 'black tea', because the dried leaves are black. In Asia, I believe that you call this 'red tea', because it's a reddish-brown colour when brewed. What do Brits call it? Just 'tea', of course! These days, other teas are widely available - different blends (Earl Grey with bergamot, for example) as well as different teas such as green teas, fruit teas, herbal infusions and South African roobois. But if you simply ask for tea, it goes without saying that you mean a classic blend of Kenya, Assam and Ceylon (often marketed as 'English Breakfast Tea'). If we want to distinguish between standard 'tea' and the fancier teas above, Brits often refer to the classic blend as 'ordinary tea', 'proper tea' or even 'real tea'! We might also use the phrase 'Builders' Tea'. This comes from the stereotype that builders are down-to-earth, unpretentious types who always drink ordinary (English-style) tea as Drew describes it: the classic blend, with milk and several spoons of sugar, brewed so strong that you could stand a teaspoon up in it. (The last detail is an exaggeration, of course!) 2. 'Tea' can also refer to a break when you stop working. You may or may not drink tea at this time. During a meeting, a break around 3pm might be signalled by saying 'Let's stop for tea' or 'We'll have a tea break now". To be continued...

One final post. Two common collocations: 'A decent cup of tea' 'Decent' means 'of the required standard'. In order to 'hit the spot' - achieve the right combination of warmth, strength, colour and sweetness to both stimulate the body and calm the nerves - a cup of tea has to be well-made. Boiling water and a few minutes' brewing time is essential. When a Brit comes home from any visit abroad, the thing they most look forward to is a 'decent cup of tea', the implication being that you can't get tea made to an acceptable level anywhere else! Brits abroad are horrified by what passes for tea elswhere in the world..... weak and tasteless, made with tepid water. Horror stories of asking for tea with milk and being presented with warm milk with a dry teabag placed on a saucer. Getting 'a decent cup of tea' is very important thing. 'A nice cup of tea' 'Nice' means good, in the sense of enjoyable, refreshing, warming and - most of all - comforting. Tired? Depressed? Angry? Worried? Shocked? Lonely? Stressed? Bored? Had some bad news? Some good news? The answer to everything in life is 'a nice cup of tea'. Making tea is a comforting ritual, holding a warm cup of milky tea is soothing, and doing so in the company of a friend, family, or sympathetic listener is the best thing in the world. Whatever the problem is, the best thing that you can offer a friend is 'tea and sympathy' (yes, it is a phrase). Just look at any British soap opera - whenever there's a crisis, on goes the kettle and out comes 'a nice cup of tea'. OK, that's all from me. Time to put the kettle on.

Here are some informal expressions which we use in England: Saying that you want some tea ( in ascending order of desperation): "I wouldn't mind a cup of tea" "I fancy a cup of tea" "I could really do with a cup of tea" "I'm gasping for a cup of tea" "I'm dying for a cup of tea" We might replace 'a cup of tea' with 'cuppa' in any of these cases. In the north of England, people often say 'a brew' to mean 'tea'. I've used these terms in the examples below: Offering someone some tea: Fancy a cuppa? Fancy a brew? I'm putting the kettle on. Join me for a cuppa? Possible replies: I'm fine, thanks. Just had one. ( a polite way of refusing) or Yes, please. Love one! The tea-maker would then say something like "How do you like it?" or "Do you take milk and sugar?" .Most people would answer with something like this: Milk, no sugar, please. Milk, two sugars, please. If you give the second answer, the tea-maker will make tea in a cup and leave the top 10% of the cup empty. They'll then fill this remaining space with cold milk, and dissolve two teaspoonfuls of white sugar in the tea. As an answer to "How do you like it?" you could also say how strong you would like your tea. "Really weak!" "Nice and strong, please. Leave the teabag in!" "As it comes!" = This means average strength, or that you don't mind about the strength. I'll explain what Brits actually mean when we say 'tea' in another post. It isn't always what you'd think!

The classic idioms to do with tea are these: 1. 'It's not my cup of tea" meaning "It's not to my taste". "What did you think of that modern art exhibition? You know, the one where they made sculptures out of rubbish?" "Hmm, it wasn't exactly my cup of tea". This implies that it isn't the type of art that appeals to you personally, but that you are aware that other people might like it. 2. "A storm in a teacup" = a lot of fuss about something unimportant For example,. "I hear that you had a argument with your neighbours. Was it about something serious?" "No, it was just a storm in a teacup. We'd forgotten all about it the next day!" The American equivalent is 'a tempest in a teapot'. I'll give you some everyday expressions in another post.