Ep #9: Do English people actually drink tea?
Hello and welcome! You're listening to the Byron English Podcast, your go-to resource for mastering the English language. Today we're going to talk about how much tea English people drink.
Why does everybody in the world think English people are always drinking tea? Statistically speaking, people in the U.K. consume twice as much coffee as they do tea. So how can we explain the significant rise in the popularity of coffee, in a country that’s famous for tea.
One theory is that coffee is the drink of capitalism. With its high caffeine content, it’s the perfect drink to help everyone survive the rat race. You can’t survive the daily grind without a few cups of coffee to keep you awake!
But hold on one second. What is all this strange vocabulary I’m using? At the start of the episode I said ‘Statistically speaking, people in the U.K. consume twice as much coffee as they do tea.’
We use the phrase ‘statistically speaking’ when presenting a conclusion that has been formed by research and data. Statistically speaking, Chinese Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world with 1.3 billion native speakers.
I then spoke about the significant rise in the popularity of coffee. Significant rise means a big growth. Personally, I have seen a significant rise in the number of students studying English online. This is probably a result of the recent Covid pandemic. I definitely noticed a significant rise in the number of online English students.
Now let’s get back to our tea vs coffee conversation. If you remember, we were trying to understand why coffee had overtaken tea in the U.K. I said that coffee is the drink of capitalism. It helps us to survive the rat race. It helps us to survive the daily grind.
The rat race is a fun expression which we use to describe the race to professional success in a corporate environment. The rat race is the race to get a promotion, then another promotion, then more money, and more money until we are at the top of the career ladder. The daily grind is a similar expression. It means your everyday routine, typically at your job. Let’s try those expressions in an example.
Lucia is so tired of the rat race. Every day she takes a train to Milan, and walks to her office with thousands of other commuters. Next week, Lucia is going to take a break from the daily grind and visit her friend in Sicily.
So, the next time you start assuming English people are only drinking tea, remember these things. Statistically speaking, English people drink more coffee than tea. There has been a significant rise in the number of cafes and coffee companies. Maybe this is because English people work so hard, they need the coffee to help them get through the daily grind. Or maybe coffee is just a natural part of the rat race. But does that mean we quit coffee when we finally quit the rat race? That’s a scary thought!
Thank you for listening and don't forget to find us online at byronrome.com!
DA RICORDARE
In questo episodio vengono introdotti diversi modi di dire e concetti chiave:
Statistically speaking: Un'espressione usata quando si presentano conclusioni basate su ricerche e dati.
Significant rise: Un termine che indica un aumento considerevole o un grande crescita di qualcosa.
Rat race: Una frase idiomatica usata per descrivere la corsa competitiva per il successo professionale in un ambiente aziendale.
Daily grind: Un'espressione che si riferisce alla routine quotidiana, tipicamente in ambito lavorativo.
Questi termini e modi di dire vengono utilizzati per discutere il consumo di tè e caffè nel Regno Unito, sfatando il mito che gli inglesi bevano principalmente tè e esplorando le ragioni dell'aumentata popolarità del caffè. Il podcast utilizza questi concetti per insegnare inglese, fornendo contesto e esempi pratici delle espressioni.
