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On thought and language... I guess

In French, herbal tea is a tisane, whereas real tea is thé. I like that they have two different words for it, because herbal tea is for suckahs and when you're really desperate. It seems like by having two words, there would be less confusion and you could more easily express the idea that you want REAL TEA as opposed to herbal. Unfortunately, in my experience it doesn't make things any easier because a tisane is usually still considered a kind of thé.

I don't know what my point was... probably something about Sapir/Whorf and cultural understanding across languages. But my brain is not really up to that right now, so here's my new point: I like real tea.

srah - Monday, 14 March 2005 - 5:03 PM
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Comments (7)

gravatar Not Your MOM - March 14, 2005 - 7:04 PM - ℓ

Cafe or decafe?

gravatar srah - March 14, 2005 - 10:38 PM - ℓ

Hmmm... given a choice, I'll go for the all-natural caffeinated sort. But in a pinch, decaf will do.

Another interesting linguistic point: I've heard the French distinguish between cafeine (in café) and théine (in thé).

gravatar Cheryl - March 15, 2005 - 11:44 AM - ℓ

Boo! Sapir Whorf!

gravatar J - March 15, 2005 - 1:59 PM - ℓ

I'll not sit here and listen to you rip on herbal tea. Good day to you, Mademoiselle.

gravatar srah - March 15, 2005 - 5:06 PM - ℓ

Hmmph! Good day to you, sir!

gravatar Smuj - March 15, 2005 - 7:30 PM - ℓ

If I'm drinking tea, it's probably green. Preferably matcha.

gravatar srah - March 15, 2005 - 11:11 PM - ℓ

I'm not quite sure where green tea fits in!

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