- The tea is often used in a context of “spilling the tea”, meaning sharing the tea. Example: - “A lot of crazy things happened this weekend, so let’s meet up later so I can spill the tea.” Another usage is saying “tea?” to ask if something gossipy happened. Example: - Julia: “My trip to LA was a lot of fun this weekend!” Robert: “Ooeh, tea?” Julia: “No I was with my family the whole time.” The term “tea” is commonly used by young people and is big in online culture. It is thought to have origins in America’s gay communities. One The term is a semantical extension to the word tea, meaning a hot drink made by pouring hot water into a cup with dried leaves and/or plant material.
The tea
noun Other
A type of gossip, usually about yourself, friends, celebrities, or people well known to your friend group. Mostly it is gossip about people being in a relationship with people and/or hooking up with people.
Etymology : The exact origin of the term is unknown, but many believe that the term refers to old Southern tea parties, where people would drink tea and share all the gossip they heard.
Source : *During O-Week lunch, after a freshman told the group what he did in the weekend* Lauren: “Anyone else got any tea to spill, I don’t know if you can top that story.” (a friend, September 2019)
Last modified: 12 December 2019