The assimilation continues... sorta. Today I spontaneously and unselfconsciously asked my (office) Team mates, "Shall we have a spot of tea?"
Now, I'm no longer surprised by my capitulation to the dominance of the tea break. Or to the gentle, questioning mode for making a suggestion. But, where the heck did "a spot" come from? That's the British style, not Irish.
Maybe, it's too much U.K. TV. Or maybe I'm just resisting the humiliation of actually hearing myself suggest we get "a cuppa". All I know is it's a battle zone inside my head and the U.S. ain't winning!
9 comments:
The great tea addiction- now if you find yourself going for a 'cup of cha' you'll be totally sunk! It's funny how it's the little words which get us!
LOL! I was trying to imagine 'spot of tea' being said with an Irish accent!
LOL! I always go with "will we have some tea?" because I just can't do "cuppa" either.
A "cup of cha" is just as bad as "a cuppa" when said in the weird, hybrid American-Irish-with-subtle-hints-of-Jamaican accent I've got going on here! :-)
Hahaha I loved this. Sometimes I say the most ridiculous things and just sit there thinking, what the heck just came out of my mouth? I never know what sounds worse, being admittedly blatant American even though I'm here, or saying British words and things with my American accent. Sounds like I'm trying too hard, perhaps?
That's funny. I didn't know anyone in England still said a "spot of tea".
NFAH, I'm stuck with that dilemma too :-) Either way, I just feel like a dodo-head!
Good Lord, SDG, then that means it's just my own brain making things up again! Now I sound like a wannabe old-fashioned Brit stuck in Cork. Kill me now.
I've only been here since March. When someone offers to get everyone tea at the end of lunch in the work cafe, I never have any, because I just don't like it much. But I'm starting to feel self conscious about never offering to get everyone else tea! I also don't know the protocol well, but I'm starting to pick up on the bringing of a cup of milk and all that. The tea thing is indeed odd to me.
Amy, I see you've also run into the social terrorism that is the tea break :-) You can resist, but I think eventually you'll find yourself giving in at least a bit! If you drink coffee, that's a good way to explain away your lack of participation in the tea round. Speaking of rounds! Haha, have you run into the pub round system yet? And you thought the tea thing was bad :-)
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