afternoon tea: is it still done?

[Peter C.]

Thanks for the invitation. I would enjoy that very much. Can we go see Dolly while we're in town?

Will you be at the festival in Franklin next weekend, or at Grandfather?

I will be at the Taste of Scotland festival in Franklin, and hope to be at Grandfather Mountain.

Peter

[Mike_Oettle]

In South Africa the term “tea” as meaning a meal is generally something heard from immigrants or visitors.
Being invited for afternoon tea is quite an occasion (at least in our house). We get special eats for the occasion – cake, scones (not the same as American scones) and the like – and lay on the ancestral china (and silver, for those who have it).
But morning and afternoon tea are also routine, at home and at the office.
My daughter and her fiancé generally drink coffee instead, but we still refer to the occasion as tea.
My wife taught me to make tea and enjoy drinking it, but she sometimes takes coffee instead.
There are a few tearooms in the city where I live, but not as many as there used to be.
Dinner is a word used for the main meal, regardless of what time of day it is.
On Sundays and special holidays like Christmas it is usually (not invariably) in the middle of the day, but on week nights it is generally in the evening.
Regards,
Mike

[Lallans]

After international misunderstandings within my family regarding the meaning of 'tea', I fell into a sort of code where 'tea' when addressed to a British person meant 'supper' (ie, to the Scottish plus the Northern England and Northern Ireland members), as per their usual practice, but I employ the term 'high tea' instead of 'supper' when addressing a mixed group, as in an email "Thank you for giving the kids the lovely high tea" . This is probably seen as a little pretentious on both sides but it works. 'Tea' meaning a meal is of course never used in my part of Canada: rural people say 'breakfast, dinner, and supper' and perhaps more recently use 'lunch' if 'dinner' is a light meal, whereas city folk have adopted the more American terms of 'breakfast, lunch, and dinner.' This is seen as more sophisticated than 'dinner' followed by 'supper' but I am seeing signs of a Canuck backlash back to 'supper'. And don't get me started on the use of 'brunch' and its variations.

[highland mafia]

.' This is seen as more sophisticated than 'dinner' followed by 'supper' but I am seeing signs of a Canuck backlash back to 'supper'. And don't get me started on the use of 'brunch' and its variations.

Ya know...Now that you mention it you do seem to hear a lot of people calling it "supper" these days... Much then in the past. Huh never really noticed??

[BoldHighlander]

I've always wished to visit South Africa Mike.
Maybe "when" I do I can pop in for afternoon tea?

In South Africa the term “tea” as meaning a meal is generally something heard from immigrants or visitors.
Being invited for afternoon tea is quite an occasion (at least in our house). We get special eats for the occasion – cake, scones (not the same as American scones) and the like – and lay on the ancestral china (and silver, for those who have it).
But morning and afternoon tea are also routine, at home and at the office.
My daughter and her fiancé generally drink coffee instead, but we still refer to the occasion as tea.
My wife taught me to make tea and enjoy drinking it, but she sometimes takes coffee instead.
There are a few tearooms in the city where I live, but not as many as there used to be.
Dinner is a word used for the main meal, regardless of what time of day it is.
On Sundays and special holidays like Christmas it is usually (not invariably) in the middle of the day, but on week nights it is generally in the evening.
Regards,
Mike

[Mike_Oettle]

If you give us fair warning! And don’t forget to bring the missus.
Regards,
Mike