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Original poster

Christmas “dinner” - can someone explain please?

160 replies

Notcontent · 27/12/2020 11:28

I am not British although I have lived in the U.K. for some time now. For me, the main meal on Christmas Day has always been lunch. This would normally be at 1 pm or or a bit later.

On mumsnet I see a lot of people talk about having Christmas dinner, but at round 3 pm or later. Is this like a cross between lunch and dinner? I find this quite confusing...

OP posts:
CeeceeBloomingdale · 27/12/2020 15:51

I hate the snobbishness that comes about when others do something different to you. Dinner at noon time is not working class or outdated, it is regional. Same as the Santa/Father Christmas debate. No need to look down on others for doing things differently or because they don't speak with an RP accent. I would suggest it's the height of bad manners to label someone working class.

ThePricklySheep · 27/12/2020 16:49

@Redglitter

We just had Christmas Dinner the same time as we have any other dinner - about 7pm. Ive never understood having it at 3pm.
It’s nice because
  • you may have eaten breakfast at an odd time
  • you can take your time over a few boozy courses and leave time between
  • you can get children to bed at a reasonable time
RainingBatsAndFrogs · 27/12/2020 16:59

We have always had Christmas Dinner as an evening meal.

We prefer to be able to have a relaxed morning, to have time to go outdoors or play with toys or whatever in the afternoon. Don’t want to spend the whole day eating. It feels like a proper feast, lights, candles.

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merrymouse · 27/12/2020 17:46

@Redglitter

We just had Christmas Dinner the same time as we have any other dinner - about 7pm. Ive never understood having it at 3pm.
It's because it takes longer to cook and then longer to digest. However, if you want to do something other than eat on Christmas Day, I can see why 7pm makes sense!
Hollyhocksarenotmessy · 27/12/2020 18:07

Everyone does it differently, but it's always called dinner.

We usually have our about 2 or 3, but decided to have a late one at 7.30 for a change. I think I prefer it as you don't get that big slump afterwards.or maybe you do, but it doesnt feel so bad snoozing in the evening.

We had brunch around 11.

FestiveFruitloop · 27/12/2020 21:40

@WhereverIGoddamnLike

We have christmas dinner around 7pm. The same time we have any other dinner. Midday meal is called lunch. Evening meal is called dinner. I cant abide the dinner and tea people.
'Can't abide'? I really hope you're being tongue-in-cheek. Hmm
sashh · 28/12/2020 05:45

Dinner is the evening meal in the UK. It has not been the name for the mid-day meal for centuries.

The word 'lunch' is not used in the North of England it's dinner.

We give school children a school dinner.

In Scotland you can get a fish supper at mid day.

The meal after a wedding is a 'breakfast' even though few people will have been fasting.

English is a wonderful and changing language, it has regional variations and international variations and traditions from older uses.

Apollo3 · 28/12/2020 17:00

Dinner is the evening meal in the UK. It has not been the name for the mid-day meal for centuries

How can anyone be so ridiculously clueless about their own country? It beggars belief.

HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee · 28/12/2020 17:03

Dinner is the evening meal in the UK. It has not been the name for the mid-day meal for centuries
Lol, what are dinner ladies at school?what is school dinners?what meal does that denote then?
Dinner is an early afternoon meal

Labobo · 28/12/2020 17:11

We have it at 6.30-7pm. Before that we have a good brunch of smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, scrambled eggs, bucks fizz with freshly squeezed OJ and snacks of Christmas chocolates and nuts.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 28/12/2020 17:11

Traditionally speaking, dinner is the main meal of the day, no matter what time you have it. And if the usual Christmas meal isn’t main, I don’t know what is.

i dare say IABU but It really grates on me to hear Christmas dinner referred to as ‘Christmas lunch’ - to me it’s much the same as those people who say ‘between you and I’, in the sadly mistaken belief that it’s ‘correct’.

ThePricklySheep · 28/12/2020 17:17

@Catlover77

Dinner is the evening meal in the UK. It has not been the name for the mid-day meal for centuries.

However Christmas Dinner is usually mid afternoon - for some inexplicable reason

Not been to Yorkshire recently then?Grin
NameChange84 · 28/12/2020 17:19

@Notcontent

So I guess it means the Christmas dinner is really a very late lunch?
Christmas dinner is dinner. We have it at dinner time. 5pm.

At lunch we have lunch.

Apollo3 · 28/12/2020 17:20

i dare say IABU but It really grates on me to hear Christmas dinner referred to as ‘Christmas lunch’ - to me it’s much the same as those people who say ‘between you and I’, in the sadly mistaken belief that it’s ‘correct’

Do you really have to be such a condescending prick?

People say Xmas lunch when they have it at what is THEIR lunch time. People say Xmas dinner when they have it at what is THEIR dinner time. It is as simple as that and does not tell you anything about their class, speech patterns or personalities.

On the other hand, you just told us quite a bit about yours, and nothing good.

CoronaIsWatching · 28/12/2020 17:22

We had ours at 10:30pm this year, couldn't face having it earlier due to brunch of bacon sandwiches at 10am

Apollo3 · 28/12/2020 17:28

We had ours at 10:30pm this year, couldn't face having it earlier due to brunch of bacon sandwiches at 10am

You had bacon sandwichs at 10am and couldn't possibly eat again for over 12 hours? Hmm Was this an Xmas gathering of competitive undereaters?

TyroTerf · 28/12/2020 17:46

Dinner is the main meal of the day whenever you have it.

I guess that means I've never had a main meal, except at Christmas - with a southern mother and a northern father, dinner was a rather contentious word, so we always had lunch and tea instead.

We had our Christmas dinner at about one, because I have a small child who gets a bit distraught when things happen at unexpected times. There was no Christmas tea because getting the cheese out doesn't count as an actual meal, to my mind.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 28/12/2020 18:09

We had ours at 1300, because DGS eats then and because getting up at at 0600 to start cooking is a lie in for me. It was dinner.

RosaBaby2 · 28/12/2020 18:11

We call it Christmas Dinner and eat whenever it's ready usually around 6 (we don't plan a time)

We would however still call it Christmas Dinner if it was at 1pm (lunchtime)

CoronaIsWatching · 28/12/2020 18:29

@Apollo3

We had ours at 10:30pm this year, couldn't face having it earlier due to brunch of bacon sandwiches at 10am

You had bacon sandwichs at 10am and couldn't possibly eat again for over 12 hours? Hmm Was this an Xmas gathering of competitive undereaters?

Well we also grazed on smoked salmon and roasted chestnuts throughout the day. Plus some booze!
partyatthepalace · 28/12/2020 18:41

Christmas dinner is an anomaly - it’s eaten at different times of the day - some people at lunchtime sometimes late afternoon. If the latter then yes people would have brunch or lunch first.

Usually dinner is your main evening meal and lunch at midday in the UK.

Although if you have your main meal at lunch it is sometimes called dinner.

CrochetToTheMoon · 28/12/2020 18:49

I use lunch/dinner interchangeably on a day to day basis depending on where I am. At home its dinner and tea, at work its lunch and dinner because tea is teabreak Smile

Christmas dinner is always called dinner though, usually between 1 and 3, when we’d normally have dinner.

Also side note. In school we had school dinners served by the dinner ladies but took in a packed lunch Grin

Apollo3 · 28/12/2020 19:02

Usually dinner is your main evening meal and lunch at midday in the UK. Although if you have your main meal at lunch it is sometimes called dinner

Sigh. Huge numbers of people have their main meal in the evening, but they still call their midday meal dinner, even when its a sandwich. And they call their main meal of the day tea, or supper, or something else.

Crystal90567 · 28/12/2020 23:44

In the north, teachers call lunchtime lunch, and 'dinner ladies', lunchtime supervisors. Cleaners are also no longer called chars or char-ladies!
Parents might call it dinner but it is said less and less nowadays. Also see:
Lunch pass.
Lunchtime clubs.

TheSilentStars · 28/12/2020 23:56

@Crystal90567

In the north, teachers call lunchtime lunch, and 'dinner ladies', lunchtime supervisors. Cleaners are also no longer called chars or char-ladies! Parents might call it dinner but it is said less and less nowadays. Also see: Lunch pass. Lunchtime clubs.
Not in my north they don't.