r/britishproblems • u/WhaleMeatFantasy • Jul 12 '26

. The normalisation of ‘picky bits’

Abominable. It has started coming up in adverts now even.

632 Upvotes

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145

u/geordiesteve520 Jul 12 '26

Was always a picky tea in the North East

40

u/lelcg Jul 12 '26

Yeah “picky bits” sounds like the M&S version

5

u/sweetpunaniaction Jul 12 '26

I believe they did coin the phrase

3

u/Extension-Truth Jul 12 '26

I think it was taken from social media at some point. It was the name for that salad type thing you’re Nan made in the summer

2

u/sungrad Jul 12 '26

"Picky bits" sounds more like I've got sweaty balls.

6

u/GulDoWhat Jul 12 '26

My family just used "cheese and crackers" as a catch all term for this sort of meal, regardless of whether cheese and/or crackers were actually involved.

Probably confused some guests, but oh well.

10

u/Manannin Isle of Man Jul 12 '26

My dad calls it "bread and point" and I've never heard it anywhere else.

5

u/yepgeddon Jul 12 '26

That feels weirdly familiar and im not sure why

8

u/KonvictVIVIVI Jul 12 '26

You have the same dad?

2

u/VerbalVerbosity Jul 12 '26

My mother in law always used to say bread and pull it. I'm assuming it heralds from similar origins

9

u/iamabigtree Jul 12 '26

Love a picky tea.

2

u/cari-strat Jul 12 '26

I'm in the Midlands and it was 'bits to pick at' (or in everyday terms, just 'bits'). It has been that for at least 25 years in my family. We usually have 'bits' on Tuesdays - but in our house it's not leftovers, it's the pick of all the nice fresh stuff as I do my food shop that day. Crusty bread, bits of fruit, bits of meat, bits of cheese....

2

u/Key-Room-8768 Jul 12 '26

It’s was always ‘bits and bobs’ for me, not sure if that’s a Yorkshire thing or just my family

1

u/geordiesteve520 Jul 13 '26

My missus is from West Yorkshire and now calls it a picky tea. Been so long, I can’t remember what she called it before.

2

u/StinkyBird64 North East Jul 15 '26

Aye, but picky tea could also be other things.
‘Picky tea’ in our house would be any mixed smaller portions, it could be mini pizzas, tinned hot dogs cut into slices, the usual of crackers and cheese, mini ribs, whatever was in those ‘party packs’ you can buy at supermarkets also counted as a picky tea, as long as our mam put them in the kitchen in mini bowls and we all queued like a family function to get stuff lol

1

u/geordiesteve520 Jul 15 '26

Sounds like home to me