Wet the Tea
To make the tea. To pour boiling water over the tea leaves in the pot. The Hiberno-English standard phrase for the act of brewing tea, distinct from the standard English 'put the kettle on' (which is the earlier preparatory step).
Etymology
Built on the older sense of 'wet' as 'to add liquid to' - a survival of a wider Middle English use that standard English narrowed to weather-related senses. The phrase preserves the older pre-tea-bag image: dry leaves in a teapot becoming wet leaves when the boiling water arrives. Modern tea-bag preparation is a degenerate form of the original; the phrase has not adjusted.
In a sentence
"Come in, come in, I'll wet the tea and we'll have a chat."
Historical notes
Wet the tea is one of the most-spoken Hiberno-English phrases and one of the most reliable markers of Irish speech to outsiders. The construction 'I'll wet the tea' is the standard offer when guests arrive; 'wet the tea, would you?' is the standard request between people who live together. The phrase carries the whole domestic register of tea-making, which in Hiberno-English households remains a major social ritual. Compare 'pour the tea' (an action with already-brewed tea) and 'make the tea' (the standard English alternative).
Sources
- Oxford English Dictionary, entry wet v. (to add liquid to - older sense). · dictionary
- Wikipedia, Hiberno-English vocabulary section. · other