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Usually when someone does not think your current statement has to do with the conversation at hand they can ask, "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China"?

Where did that form of statement come from?

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    A possible explanation is given in this Wikipedia article.
    – Irene
    Apr 5, 2012 at 19:03
  • I'd normally use "the price of fishcakes in Tokyo" - maybe just me...
    – neil
    Apr 11, 2012 at 14:30
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    A more common idiom in UK English is "What's that got to do with the price of fish?" I don't think I've ever heard the 'price of tea in China' one at all.
    – BoldBen
    Nov 20, 2020 at 18:57
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    Interestingly I’ve heard “price of tea in China” many many times but never once “price of fish” nor “fishcakes in Tokyo”.
    – Jim
    Nov 21, 2020 at 8:08

4 Answers 4

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Eric Partridge, "A Dictionary of Catch Phrases," says this one is a variant of "What's that got to do with the price of eggs?" and has been around "since the 1940s--perhaps influenced by the expression, e.g. 'I wouldn't do that, not for all the tea in China.'" He identifies the "eggs" saying as "US: since the 1920s, if not earlier."

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    Oddly enough, I know this phrase as "What's that got to do with the price of eggs in China"
    – tanantish
    Jan 11, 2013 at 6:05
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No one here seems to have actually answered the question in terms of the origin. The phrase is believed to have begun in 19th century England where the actual price of tea in China was of interest. When someone in the British House of Commons said something others felt was irrelevant, it was met with this saying... meaning, the price of tea in China is a relevant topic, but yours is not.

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  • Good answer & welcome to EL&U. While I'm not doubting your answer, do you have a reliable reference to show that this is an authoritative answer? Some substantiation for answers (where possible) is preferred on this site. Thanks.
    – TrevorD
    Jun 12, 2013 at 23:24
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    One of the other answers does answer in terms of origin by quoting a dictionary: 1940s, perhaps influenced by other phrases. / Also, Hansard is the name of the official record of what was said in the House of Commons and it's available online. Please could you locate your source?
    – Hugo
    Jun 14, 2013 at 7:43
  • That and "I thought that was obvious?".
    – derelict
    May 5, 2019 at 2:31
  • see here: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/price_of_tea_in_China
    – gregory
    Jan 16, 2021 at 5:49
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The complete expression is actually the following question: "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"

The price of tea in China is completely irrelevant to the subject of conversation. So, when someone asks this question, it means they’re really surprised by the listener's comments. Effectively, they're saying:

  • Why do you say that?
  • What are you talking about?
  • What does that have to do with anything?
  • What does that have to do with what we are talking about?

The Wikipedia article Irene mentioned is pretty good.

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I am going to agree with the "evolution" of a sarcastic answer from a sarcastic answer from a real answer to a real problem: Meaning, originally A LOT of England's money and finance WAS tied up in the price of tea - at the unloading docks in London each year. "Tea races" were highly looked at events covering months of travel and high drama from China around Cape Horn to England to get the first cargo back to London! It affected what everybody drunk and how much everybody bought and paid for their meals and drinks. Very, very important - just like today, the price of oil IS a daily report on the news and in the stock markets.

But, in China, at the China docks? A little bit less important, but relevent. People, companies, industries made their yearly profits - and thus the yearly wages and salaries and earnings for everybody from the owner to the stockholders to the lowest laborer - on how much the difference in price of tea was between the China docks and the London sales rooms. A late ship, a lost ship or spoiled tea product? Disaster. A bad market in China or a bad growing year or famine or a crop failure over there?

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  • I'm very much inclined to agree with your answer, but a clear reference or link to "tea races" would make this post sturdier and more believable. Your last sentence needs to be tweaked, it's phrased poorly IMHO.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jun 12, 2014 at 5:39
  • @Mari-LouA Here's a link to the Great Tea Race of 1866 for you. Is this relevant?
    – cod3monk3y
    Jan 3, 2015 at 2:54
  • @cod3monk3y the link adds credibility to the post, the catchphrase may not have originated in the 1860s but it helps to explain why "the price of tea" was so important and relevant for the British economy. However, Irene's link in the comments has the best reference.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jan 3, 2015 at 5:24
  • This doesn't resolve the puzzle, but amplifies it. The price of tea in China, at that time, indeed affected a great deal of economic activity, and was thus relevant to quite a few topics (even though the relevance may not have been immediately obvious). So how did the term that stood for something relevant become a term that means something irrelevant?
    – jsw29
    Nov 20, 2020 at 22:27

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