In London, "Char" is also slang for tea as in "a cup of char". Looks like there is some overlap. http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/cup-char
In UK people also sometimes solely use the term "brew" or "cuppa".
Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
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Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#142I'm no Chinese expert, so somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I've found that the Chinese word 茶 (cha) doesn't always necessarily mean tea, but can refer generically to a number of different brewed drinks. e.g. barley tea (大麥茶), ginger tea (薑茶), golden oats tea (燕麥茶), etc. all of which translate to tea, but often contain no tea leaves. It may seem like a nitpick, but when you're in China and order what you expect t…
> e.g. barley tea (大麥茶), ginger tea (薑茶), golden oats tea (燕麥茶), etc. all of which translate to tea
You call all of these things tea (and I would call them all tea too), so I'm not really sure why you say that cha doesn't necessarily translate to tea.
Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#143Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#144I'm no Chinese expert, so somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I've found that the Chinese word 茶 (cha) doesn't always necessarily mean tea, but can refer generically to a number of different brewed drinks. e.g. barley tea (大麥茶), ginger tea (薑茶), golden oats tea (燕麥茶), etc. all of which translate to tea, but often contain no tea leaves. It may seem like a nitpick, but when you're in China and order what you expect t…
Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#145At least in Australia, "chai" is on sale in cafes meaning Masala chai, a mix of leaf tea and Indian spices and herbs. And then you've got the "chai latte", like a regular latte but with "chai" instead of espresso. Amusing weirding of language - it should really be a "masala"!
Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interestingly pu-erh is often referred to as "red tea" in Western countries.
I've only heard "red tea" used to refer to rooibos tea.
Translating the article: Pu-erh (chin. 普洱茶, pǔ’ěr chá) – a kind of tea that is classified as red tea in Poland (black tea in China since the Chinese classify the tea according to the colour of the brew, as opposed to Europeans who classify tea according to the colour of dried leaves).
Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#147The local Nepali speaking people of Darjeeling, which is famous its champagne of teas, call it chi-yah. Close to Cha but not quite.
Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#148The local Nepali speaking people of Darjeeling, which is famous its champagne of teas, call it chi-yah. Close to Cha but not quite.
Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#149Re: Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two words for tea
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ahem, my English book certainly featured a story about a worker kid coming home from school and having some kind of grub "for tea" at 5 pm, i.e. food with tea as the drink. My understanding was that this usage referred to a meal eaten in the evening, i.e. not lunch. Your link seems to confirm that. My grandmother used to serve tea for the evening meal when there were no guests other than her little grandson. But that…
To be clear, "tea" in almost all cases doesn't imply the meal will be served with tea. It's just a name for the evening meal in the north of England.