Cloe: Morning! What can I get you?
Jim: Hello. I would like a cup of tea, please.
Cloe: Of course! Here you go, one lovely cuppa.
Jim: Thank you. Oh, excuse me? It has milk.
Cloe: Yes, of course. You asked for tea. Most of our customers have it like that.
Jim: But I don’t want milk. I want tea.
Cloe: Fine, one tea without milk coming up.
Jim: Thanks. But this is very black!
Cloe: Well, that’s what it looks like without milk...
Jim: But... but I would like English breakfast tea that is... a little bit brown?
Cloe: Oh, you want it weak and watery. I’ll brew you a fresh pot and you can leave it to steep as
long as you like. How does that sound?
Jim: That is perfect, thank you.
NOW LET’S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY!
The greeting “Good Morning!” is often shortened to just Morning!
Here you go, is an idiom often used when handing over something to another person.
A cup of tea is colloquially called a cuppa, which is short for ‘cup of’. The tea is implied because, in Britain, what else would it be?
Like that means ‘in that way’ or ‘in that manner’.
Coming up is way of saying, ‘on its way’or ‘about to be served’.
By describing tea as weak and watery, the server is expressing the opinion that it is not appetising and not the right way to drink tea.
The verb to brew refers to the preparation of tea or coffee (and also the manufacture of beer.) A cup of tea is sometimes called a ‘brew’: “I fancy a nice, strong brew.”
A fresh pot refers to a pot of tea that has been newly made.
To steep means to leave the tea longer in the hot water to flavour it.
