take milk in one's coffee

Question

I take milk in my coffee.Can anyone help me with this sentence above? What does it mean?LCChang

YoungCalifornian · Accepted Answer

It means that the person speaking likes to have some milk in their coffee.

Lcchang · Answer

I see. Thanks.

LCChang

BarbaraPA · Answer

Yes, LCChang, it's a common thing to say: How do you take your coffee? = What do you put in your coffee?

Typical answers:

I take mine black, thank you.

I take mine with a little milk.

Black with two sugars, please

(And if you ever want to get MY coffee - lowfat milk and an Equal, please)

Clive · Answer

Hi guys,

It used to be, perhaps still is, a fact that you can easily get British people arguing about tea. Just ask whether you should put the milk in the cup first, or the tea.

Of course, with a barbarian drink like coffee, such subtleties don't matter.

Best wishes, Clive

BarbaraPA · Answer

It's no coincidence that Barbara and barbarian have the same root, is it?

Now I'm going to toddle over to the break room for only my second cup of coffee of the day.

(P.S. Nona called us a heathen race. You Brits do love your cuppa, don't you.)

Lcchang · Answer

Grammar Geek
It's no coincidence that Barbara and barbarian have the same root, is it?

Now I'm going to toddle over to the break room for only my second cup of coffee of the day.

(P.S. Nona called us a heathen race. You Brits do love your cuppa, don't you.)

Hi, Barbara

I'd like to ask you some questions here, becasue I got lost while reading this thread. And also for the curiosity reason.

1. "lowfat milk and an Equal, please"--what does Equal mean here?

2. Why would a British people argue about whether people should put the milk in the cup first, or the tea?

3. Is coffee a "barbarian drink"? What does that mean?

4. You said, "It's no coincidence that Barbara and barbarian have the same root, is it? ". I guess you wanted to tell people your ancestors came from the U.K., right?

5. You imitated the British people by saying "toddle over to the break room ". Correct?

6. heathen race...why? This sounds very unfriendly.

I am so interested in the dialogue you made with others, so if there is something you get offended by me please forgive me. Thanks for your time.

LC Chang

Marius Hancu · Answer

Equal is a trademark for a sugar replacement product. You'll find it on the Web.

Nona the brit · Answer

2. Why would a British people argue about whether people should put the milk in the cup first, or the tea?

...because tea is our 'national drink' and everyone thinks they make it in the best way and everyone else is wrong. It is one of the main dividing lines in tea techniques. However...don't take it too seriously, we don't! English people love to squabble in a humorous way, it's something we find fun. In my house I'm a milk in first but my boyfriend is a milk in last person, so we have a little joke about it everytime we make a cup. Gosh, we sound really dull don't we!

3. Is coffee a "barbarian drink"? What does that mean?

It was a joke. A lot of tea drinkers 'look down on' coffee. They consider tea more civilised.

4. You said, "It's no coincidence that Barbara and barbarian have the same root, is it? ". I guess you wanted to tell people your ancestors came from the U.K., right?

We now know you consider British people barbarians! Gee thanks! (see, I'm doing the humorous squabble thing now, I'm not really offended). No, she was just making a personal joke about herself...not saying anything about the UK or her ancestors. She is suggesting she is a bit of a wild woman!

5. You imitated the British people by saying "toddle over to the break room ". Correct?

Yes, but we would only say that in a jokey way too.

6. heathen race...why? This sounds very unfriendly.

Again, a joke. There is a half serious/half humorous thing in Europe that makes us look upon Americans as if they are not quite as civilised as us in their habits/manners/culture etc. It's pure snobbery of course. And then there is the whole 'tea is civilised but Americans drink coffee' idea as mentioned above with barbarian drink. I only made the joke with GG as I knew that she would take it as a joke and not be offended in any way. I actually get along with GG very well! I wouldn't say it to someone without sufficient knowledge of the English language and English humour to understand it. A huge part of British humour is what you can only describe as 'friendly insults'.

CalifJim · Answer

Gosh, we sound really dull don't we!

I've heard it said that the British can talk for hours about something as ordinary as dirt.

Another friendly insult!

CJ

Nona the brit · Answer

Just never ask a British man for directions or ask him about his journey to anywhere. 2 hours later you'll still have a huddle of men discussing the merits of taking the A83 over the A34 and vice versa, of course taking into account the day of travel, the type of vehicle, the weather, if there is an S in the month, the roadworks, the scenery, the number of service stations, the number of petrol stations, the width of the road, the number of break-downs that happen on it, which is the shorter route, which is the quicker route, which is best 'as the crow flies',  blah blah blah blah blah!

take milk in one's coffee

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