Research - in praise of the prefix 're-'

Along with widespread distrust in authority, experts and professionals, we see the very common suggestion (or sometimes taunt) online to ‘do your own research’.

I know several people who have 'done their own research' - spending three or four years of their lives working extremely hard on a specific question to earn a PhD. Having watched just how difficult it is, and how they had to put the rest of their life on hold, I don't really want to 'do my own research'.

So, why is it so commonly suggested? And why is it so often accompanied by poor spelling and insults?

Unless… perhaps they don't really mean 'research.'

Tea - with sympathetic adjectives

Tea is the most consumed drink in the world after water.

It's my preferred beverage. Each day, I have about 6 of the estimated 18–20 billion cups of tea consumed around the world. My personal motto is if in doubt, make tea.

From the 1800s, Australians adopted the British penchant for a cup of tea for all occasions and the philosophy that a cup of tea can make things better, at least while you are sipping the steaming brew. (The recent Australian trend to adopt American habits means that coffee has taken over as number one hot beverage, but it sadly lacks any equivalent philosophy. This 2016 poll found the most common drinks in Australia are water, milk, hot coffee, and then tea.)

Tea is so much a part of our days that it turns up in various sayings, and much has been written about how to make tea properly. 

I’ve noticed something else while recently experiencing a series of minor problems escalating to a natural disaster. The adjectives we use to describe a cup of tea hold a secret code for human connection and sympathy.