Welcome to the Vancouver Lexicon. Its purpose is to pin down the patois of the City of Vancouver by recording its toponyms, nicknames, slang terms, personalities, places, and other Van-centric things. Full A-Z here.

Cold Tea | codeword, hospitality | Service industry code for cold beer covertly served in teapots after a restaurant’s last call for alcohol. The service of ‘cold tea’ was once fairly common practice in Vancouver and something of an open secret at a handful of Chinese restaurants.

Usage | “Guys, we missed last call. Our only chance for another round is for some cold tea. Anyone fancy some dumplings?”