The word "elevenses" always makes me laugh because it sounds so quaint! I must admit though, it's quite nice to have a little mid-morning break to refresh yourself.

Both parents working, so no pre-school sitting around the kitchen table as Mum takes a well-deserved sit-down. When we eat and drink more calories than we use up, our bodies store the excess as body fat. If this continues, over time we may put on weight. As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. My phone, that's all I can handle. We don't have Alexa or whatever all those other things are. Literally no interest whatsoever. Anything techie, I've got to turn all that off. I cannot use tech, it drives me insane. Because it always crashes, it's always complicated. You always have to reboot something, and I don't know how to reboot something. Boots are the gorgeous heels I've got. Other than that, I want to talk about a boot. You must have a laptop...Elevenses, like afternoon tea, is a little detour in the day, a break from toil. The word, or something similar to it, appears in the OED as a bit of Suffolk dialect from 1849. Unlike Western Europe and North America, many countries in Central and Eastern Europe have a second breakfast as part of the daily eating schedule. Countries that observe a second breakfast include: Sir: My father – born 1909 and an original idler – always insisted on these breaks, featuring tea and dunkable biscuits. I carry on this tradition, though it’s a morning coffee in my case. As coffee becomes more popular around the world, some people have started drinking it instead of tea. The options for food and drink during elevenses are endless. The purpose of this break, after all, is to stem any hunger before lunch and to get enough energy to make it to lunch. Similar Traditions Around the World

Workers who are happy and not distracted by hunger are more efficient. If you feel like your whole office might benefit from this ritual, let your human resource officer know about it. Second breakfasts originated in pre-industrial times when farm workers would start the day very early with a light breakfast and take a break mid-morning to refuel. This tradition continues across Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Spain, where it is called almuerzo. I live in the US now and had friends over the other day for toasted teacakes by the fire. American guests peppered me with questions about whether people in England actually do stop for tea. My relations tell me no – not unless you have people over. Bummer! The entry also mentions “fours”: “RAYNBIRD Agric. Suffolk vi. 296 The name ‘fourzes’ and ‘elevens’, given to these short periods of rest and refreshment, show when taken.” It also gives them a chance to socialize with colleagues and build work relationships. Elevenses Are Not an Old Tradition

More Events & Roundups

Azuza - The thing with the hobbits though, is if I remember correctly, all their meals were big. So they weren't actually eating small meals spaced throughout the day. They were just eating many large meals! You're not having a biscuit for Elevenses, you're having a biscuit for Tea. But I don't mean tea. I mean, when we say, "What are you having for Tea?" we mean that time between lunch and dinner. I know it's insane. But at Tea time, we will have tea and biscuits that we dunk into tea. What about you? Do you observe the hallowed custom of elevenses? And if you do, tell us how you do it. That's it. My grandfather was a Brit like you and would use one single cup all day for multiple rounds of tea. Welcome to Small Talk, a series where we catch up with the internet's favorite Extremely Online individuals offline.