Evening meal

[sneezer]

What do you call yours? Tea, supper or dinner?

I call it dinner.

[Cetti]

Lunch at midday, Dinner in the evening.

 It used to be Dinner on Sundays with Tea in the afternoon accompanied by cakes, dainty sandwiches, frilly tablecloths and posh china -  but now that has disappeared in most homes to a meal in the evening.

[Andy008]

When I worked in a Natwest call centre last year, I cold-called a customer in Birmingham, who told me that 5.20 pm was when "most people" were having their "tea", and that due this she did not wish to be disturbed.

[flaming]

Well working-class-origin old me had never had a mid-day big meal, mainly because of work. So the skimpier middle of the day meal became lunch when I was at work.  When I cooked a bigger meal for myself and my x naturally it was 'dinner' for us, often eaten between 7 - 8 p.m.  Confusing because before I was married I had jobs in the West End which gave Luncheon Vouchers (who remembers those, and what happened to them?) and yet what I bought with those were 'dinners' - hot main meals of the day.  I have mainained my lighter mid-day meal although it's often brunch now! My evening meal is 'dinner' and although I have tried to eat it earlier iof late t could never be 'tea'.  For me it is a time -title, i.e. the main meal of the day.  Also, when I lived at home, people were out working all day in the 50s so our 'dinner' was in the evening at about 7.30 p.m.  My husband always delighted in calling his middle of the day meal 'dinner' even though that wasn't what it was, amount-wise.

If I skip dinner and have a late snack, that is what I would call 'supper' - around 10.30 p.m. and it is cut down to a bowl of soup and bread.

[flaming]

Anyway, 'tea' is something I have had at posh hotels, with all the trimmings of sandwiches and cakes, at about 4 p.m.  If I do have a mid to late afternoon biscuit I call that tea, although I am having a cup of coffee!

[shaz-rla]

I call it tea, I am Scottish.  I confuse my  Norfolk friends!  Why do some people call lunch "dinner"?

[Scarlett]

DINNER! Tea (to me) infers cakes and tea and cucumber sandwiches. Supper is a very night snack, but I know a few people who are posher than me who say supper instead of dinner.

[Ceh]

I'm from Australia and we call it dinner and if you eat more food before bed it's called more dinner.

[Dark Angel]

Once my husband's work colleague Debbie was visiting and I had left some frozen chicken breasts on the worktop to defrost. Debbie pointed at the chicken and said "Is this for your tea?" and I said, "No, its for dinner" Then my husband told me that was what Debbie meant! It needed some getting used to the fact that tea and dinner meant the same thing. Just like the British say "pudding" for "dessert", whether they refer to fruit, ice cream, pie or real pudding!!

[flaming]

Reading over the posts I see that Artemis is the only one who referred to 'high tea'.  That had been a more usual in the south in the 40s and 50s - a 6.30 p.m. hot dish, perhaps fish & chips, perhaps poached eggs on toast, etc. with cups of tea.  It was almost 'dead' in the 60s but I recall one hol. I  had driving north there were more cafes and 'ordinary' restaurants serving that sort of thing, 5-7 p.m., after which they closed.  I didn't like the habit much as being a veggie I found menus limited.  It was always the poached eggs for me.I think after this meal there wouldn't be anything else to eat until a light supper after 10 p.m. but I have never subscribed to this pattern myself.  Imagine if we all ate everything mentioned - we'd balloon up and go off pop!