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This is a question Common

Freddy Woo writes, "My wife thinks calling the front room a lounge is common. Worse, a friend of hers recently admonished her daughter for calling a toilet, a toilet. Lavatory darling. It's lavatory."

My own mother refused to let me use the word 'oblong' instead of 'rectangle'. Which is just odd, to be honest.

What stuff do you think is common?

(, Thu 16 Oct 2008, 16:06)
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It depends
on what sort of cup you're pouring into. The tradition of adding the milk first arose with the use of fine porcelain china. The more expensive porcelain cups were thinner, a sign of good craftsmanship. This made them prone to cracking when heated suddenly, so you'd pour your milk in first to prevent the heat of the tea from cracking your expensive cups. Therefore it became the thing to do to pour the milk first as it's what the posh people do. If you didn't pour the milk first you were admitting to an inability to buy expensive cups.

If you have a normal cup or mug, feel free to pour in whatever order you wish.
(, Fri 17 Oct 2008, 16:08, 1 reply)
Ejumacated now!
This is a wealth of info! Also makes a lot of sense. I myself am too common to have enjoyed the thrills of fine porcelain.

I only had a vague inkling that pouring milk first was common. Someone-or-other said it was common. My ex-in-laws did it, and that sealed it for me. I desperately, desperately wanted to think of them as terribly common. I reasoned that this practice was "common" because it meant that you couldn't be arsed to use a teaspoon to combine the milk and tea.
(, Tue 21 Oct 2008, 10:11, closed)

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