Re: "high tea" ain't

so, just to sum up...

"afternoon" / "low" tea: tea taken with little cakes at a coffee table at

"high" tea: tea taken with dinner later in the evening

Nothing wrong with high tea, the only wrong thing is to call afternoon/low tea "high" tea in the belief you'll be taking it with "high" class people.

I wonder if I am the only one here who has taken tea at the Ritz?

Cheers

Blippie

-- Ten minutes of this rain will do more good in half an hour than a fortnight of ordinary rain in a month.

I had low tea with Ritz crackers !

which Ritz?

Afternoon tea is definitely the lighter of the two, taken at 3 or 4 by the middle classes, whereas high tea is the main evening meal for the working classes. It's also known as just "tea" in the north of England.

There's a lot of dispute about the origin of the term "high" but I've always gathered it refers to the "high" or late part of the afternoon when it's taken (around 5 or 6).

--Paul

Once I invited a friend of mine, up in Manchester, to come round for tea. He gladly accepted and we had tea. Tea and biscuits. Just that. From the sad look in his eyes, when he left at about 6, I felt something wasn't quite right. Then I came to realise that tea up north means something different and he probably passed by a Fish and Chips shop on his way home, silently shaking his head about the meanness of foreigners. Next time we had tea, high tea, and he was happy.

JB