For every tea drinker, the name PG Tips will be a familiar one. The teabag brand has been a household favourite for decades, and can be found on the shelves of almost every major supermarket.
But while PG Tips are commonplace in millions of households, few people actually know what the brand name means. PG Tips did, originally, have a meaning very different to the comforting cuppa we all know and love.
The iconic abbreviation has been explained by TikTok star Elijah - whose @elijahexplorebusiness account explores the meanings behind some of people's favourite brands. After recieiving floods of requests for a PG Tips video, the social media star has delivered.
He explained: "You may be thinking how did PG Tips get started - let me answer that question for you. The company behind it all was Brooke Bond who launched PG Tips in 1930 under a different name altogether - known as Pre-Gest-Tea - which is another variation of the name Digestive Tea.
"Now you may be thinking that the name doesn't ring a bell but it's implied that it can be drunk prior to eating food as a digestive aid. Salesmen being savvy shortened it to PG - PG Tips.
"After the second world war labelling regulations came in and you could no longer describe tea as aiding digestion. Back then it was just an assumed thing that tea aided digestion, so what do you do when you have to change your brand name? You shorten it - the salesman were calling it PG anyway."
"They added Tips because it was only the top two leaves and the bud was actually used in the blend," he added. Elijah's claims are backed up by PG Tips on its website, which reads: "PG tips was born, first being called 'Pre-Gest-Tea', which was then abbreviated.
"Mr Brooke then added 'tips' to highlight that we only use the top two leaves and bud of each plant," they added. Upon the discovery, people were stumped by the finding, with one person labelling the new find "Interesting".
Meanwhile, the story behind the brand name has also spread to Twitter, where a different tea fan questioned: "Did you know the PG is PG Tips stands for Pre-Gestee? How's that for a random Wednesday morning fact...." Someone else said: "I just learnt that PG Tips used to be "Pre-Gestee" tea - future #pubquiz domination."
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