Tea drinking and afternoon tea

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 21971

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., catherine at c... wrote:

> Perhaps in the American edition they drink coffee?
>

Nope, the US editions don't replace coffee for tea. 
 
> As to tea - afternoon tea.  Well, it isn't that common anymore.  
Some 
> people in the UK refer to their meals as dinner and tea.  What is 
> more normal (I think - it's what I say anyway, and so does JKR) is 
> lunch and dinner, with afternoon tea in between if there is 
> time/inclination.  Perhaps one of the reasons they don't have 
> afternoon tea in the books is because most of the time it is term 
> time and they don't have the time for the extra meal.  One exception 
> is Christmas day - they have Christmas dinner at lunchtime, because 
> it is the main meal of the day, then later on, instead of dinner, 
> they have a kind of "high tea" which is a more substantial version 
of 
> afternoon tea.  This turns everything around - dinner is dinner when 
> it is the most substantial meal of the day - hence them calling 
their 
> evening meal on Christmas day tea, because it is much lighter.
> 

LOL, I've seen rather well-intentioned hotels here in the US who have 
COMPLETELY confused "High Tea" with "Afternoon Tea" (including the 
local Ritz! tsk tsk), holding their version of "High Tea" at 4 
o'clock and serving the little sandwiches and cakes. My guess is the 
name, "High Tea", implies a grander, more austere and more elegant 
affair than "Afternoon Tea", so more socially-conscious people will be 
apt to attend them. 

Milz