I was listening to Desert Island Discs on the radio yesterday and the castaway was the voice coach Patsy Rodenburg (listen again here). Her luxury to take with her to the desert island was a cup of tea - nothing fancy, just strong so-called builder's tea.
Builder's tea is strong ordinary tea, and is very popular in Britain -- it's how I like my tea, too. The term is in the OED (definition: "Denoting a robust, full-bodied blend of black tea, brewed until very strong, and usually drunk with milk). The first citation is dated 1996.
Even earlier (1988), and also stereotypical of builders, is the entry "builder's bum", explained in the OED thus: "[with allusion to the perceived propensity of builders to expose inadvertently this part of the body] colloq. (chiefly Brit.) the top of the buttocks and buttock cleft, as revealed when a person bends over or crouches down, or by low-cut or badly fitting trousers."
Here's an article about builder's tea.
There's nothing worse than being offered a cuppa tea that's as weak as gnat's piss! Surely the antonym of "builder's tea"?
Posted by: Mwncïod | March 10, 2012 at 10:46 PM