Traditional Māori communities ate two meals a day, in the morning and evening. European settlers ate three meals a day. Before the 1940s and 1950s most people had their main meal (dinner) in the middle of the day, and a light meal called 'tea' in the evening.
Prior to the 1940s and 1950s, most people ate dinner around midday. This was preceded by breakfast and followed by a lighter early evening meal, called tea, because it involved drinking tea with food.
It's usage has nothing to do with being lower class for I attended a private school and was taught that the three meals of the day were breakfast, lunch and dinner and there were two snacks known as morning and afternoon tea. So that's the usage of the word in Brisbane.
They mean cooking dinner. The term tea can be used in two ways in New Zealand depending on how it is used. It can either mean a cup of tea or dinner. However, if someone says “cooking the tea” they mean dinner.
In New Zealand, ordinary black tea is sometimes called “gumboot” tea – the equivalent of the UK's “builder's tea”. A fairly recent New Zealand idiom, it probably arose when more exotic blends of tea like Earl Grey became popular. The New Zealand Dictionary Centre's first citation for gumboot tea is from 1997.
Some people in Britain and Australia refer to their main evening meal as "tea" rather than "dinner" or "supper", but generally, with the exception of Scotland and Northern England, "tea" refers to a light meal or a snack.
New Zealand and Australia share many words. Dunny, a colloquial word for a toilet, is one of them. The public toilets in Ōtorohanga are graced with various words meaning toilet, including dunny, and the Māori term wharepaku.
Pavlova
New Zealanders are so adamant about claiming pavlova as their own that they've declared it a New Zealand national dish. What is this? Pavlova refers to a cake-like block of baked meringue topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Dinner is the main meal of the day and is eaten around 6-7 p.m. which is early compared to some countries. Dinner dishes are usually made up of potatoes (or another form of carbohydrates), vegetables, and a meat of choice. The most common dinner in New Zealand is fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.
Noun. morning tea (countable and uncountable, plural morning teas) (Australia, New Zealand) A small meal or snack eaten between breakfast and lunch; a period of time set aside for this purpose, taken as a break from schoolwork, work, a conference, etc.
Here in Australia, however, McDonald's most prevalent nickname is “Macca's”. A recent branding survey commissioned by McDonald's Australia found that 55 per cent of Australians refer to the company by its local slang name.
Arvo: short for afternoon. If you can't tell, Australians like to shorten their words! Avo: this is what we call an avocado. This is a good one to know, because smashed avo (mashed avocado on toast) is very popular in Australian cafes.
Save this question. Show activity on this post. From another question I found out that Australians and New Zealanders call lunch and snacks crib.
Cuppa - a cup of tea or coffer 'Drop by this arvo for a cuppa' means please come and visit this afternoon for a cup of tea or coffee.
12pm to 12.30pm first meal break. 2.30pm to 2.40pm rest break. 5.50pm to 6pm rest break. 7.10pm to 7.40pm second meal break.
Spill the tea, according to the first definition published in Urban Dictionary, means “gossip or personal information belonging to someone else; the scoop; the news.” The term, in its purest form, is used for gossip and to indicate that yours is the juiciest of news.
Creamoata, a brand of finely ground rolled oats used to make porridge, was a common breakfast food in New Zealand for much of the 20th century. This Creamoata-eating boy is a specimen of ruddy good health.
And then in Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, dinners are a party reserved for much later. Typically, these hot weather countries have a long afternoon siesta (nap) and people commune for dinner later in the night, starting at 10pm or even later.
Bacon and egg, steak and cheese and potato-top pies are Kiwi classics. However, salmon and bacon(opens in new window), butter chicken, bacon and egg, lamb and mint and venison pies are award-winners at the annual New Zealand pie awards(opens in new window).
Black tea was one of the staple food items brought to New Zealand by Europeans and became a national drink.
Roast lamb has been declared Australia's national dish in a major poll that shows we're still a country of meat eaters at heart. The poll, held on News Ltd websites across all mainland capitals, attracted more than 24,000 votes.
In New Zealand we like to call it “Fush 'n' Chups”, and others just like to laugh about it, but New Zealand is home to some of the best fish and chips in the world and we're quite proud of that.
With two British parents, Theo has learnt that his underwear are pants and his trousers are trousers, but this has admittedly caused some confusion when others have commented on his 'nice pants'! Just to confuse you, again not the Americans, Kiwis call both crisps and fries 'chips'.
dunny – a toilet, the appliance or the room – especially one in a separate outside building. This word has the distinction of being the only word for a toilet which is not a euphemism of some kind. It is from the old English dunnykin: a container for dung. However Australians use the term toilet more often than dunny.
The Jacks. In Ireland, 'the jacks' means 'toilet', most commonly used to refer to public bathrooms.