Meaning of Idiom ‘Not For All the Tea in China’
Not for all the tea in China means not for any price or reward; never; not at all. 1Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. ,2Jarvie, Gordon. Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms]. London: Bloomsbury, 2009.,3Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.
Examples Of Use
“I wouldn’t date her again for all the tea in China. She’s crazy!”
“You’re going to have to give up smoking,” said the doctor. “Forget it!” said Floyd. “Not for all the tea in China!” “It’s your funeral,” said the doctor.
“He’s my friend. I don’t care what he did. I’m not going to betray him for all the tea in China.”
Origin
This idiom originated in Australia during the late 1800s. It alludes to the huge amount of tea in China. For many years, in fact, China was the sole source of tea for the entire world. 4Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. ,5Jarvie, Gordon. Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms]. London: Bloomsbury, 2009.
More Idioms Starting with N
More All Idioms
- All That Glitters Is Not Gold
- Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
- Put All Your Cards On the Table
- Not All It’s Cracked Up To Be
- Hold All the Cards
More China Idioms
More Food (and Beverage) Idioms
More Not Idioms
More Tea Idioms
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Sources
| 1, 4. | ↲ | Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. |
| 2, 5. | ↲ | Jarvie, Gordon. Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms]. London: Bloomsbury, 2009. |
| 3. | ↲ | Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008. |