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Tea-related phrases - silver spoon

Posted by ESC on October 15, 2001

In Reply to: Tea-related phrases posted by R. Berg on October 15, 2001

: : I am looking for the meanings and/or origins of the following:

: : Tea for two and two for tea

: : A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down

: : A tempest in a teapot
: :
: : As useless as a chocolate teapot

: : Born with a silver spoon in his mouth

: : Fit to a T

: : Not for all the tea in China

: : Not my cup of tea

: : Suits you down to a tee

: : The cup that cheers

: : There's many a slip twixt cup and lip

: : Wake up and smell the coffee

: : It's not worth crying over spilt milk

: "Tea for two and two for tea": Title of song popular in early 20th century.

: "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down": Song from the film "Mary Poppins," 1964.

: "The cup that cheers but does not inebriate": Slogan promoting tea as an alternative to alcohol, mid-19th century; associated with the temperance movement.

BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN HIS MOUTH -- "He got his wealth by inheritance rather than by working for it. It is an old tradition for godparents to give their godchild a spoon (perhaps more than one) at the time of christening; among the wealthy; it was usually a silver spoon. Sometimes it was a set of 12, each with the figure of a different apostle at the upper end of the handle, hence the term, apostle spoons. Presumably a child receiving silver spoons was from a wealthy family and would not have to worry about money. Cervantes in 'Don Quixote' reminds us that it is not so with everybody: 'Every man was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.'" From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).

See also: the meaning and origin of the phrase 'To a T'.

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