Hi Anton -- on Jul 04 2019 at 00:04, you wrote:

 DH>> When we say "tea and apple pie", we actually mean "a cup
 DH>> of tea and a piece of apple pie"

AS> Again, it is not "a piece of *an* apple pie", because  `pie'
AS> (as   well   as   `pizza')  is  here  more  natural  in  its
AS> uncountable, substantive form.  A piece of apple pie is like
AS> a  glass  of  water,  whereas  I  had eggs for my dinner and
AS> bisquits and nuts with my after-dinner tea.

Again -- I think you're trying to read too deeply -- a lot of these expressions
simply get categorized as colloquial!

Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/NT 1.30+