Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be pissed off with people who refer to their evening meal...

325 replies

Einsteinnolonger · 17/04/2011 17:04

as 'Dinner' and not 'Tea'.

OP posts:
Cathycat · 17/04/2011 19:02

Goodness. How many meals do some people have? Have we not been eating enough meals for years? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, high tea, supper, snacks .... ! Have I been depriving my children!?

strandedbear · 17/04/2011 19:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ReshapeWhileDamp · 17/04/2011 19:04

DH says Tea. Dinner is what he has in the middle of the day. He is from The North, and I do keep telling him. Grin

As far as I'm concerned, we have lunch at, um, lunchtime, and then DS1 has tea between 5 and 6.30pm (not for that entire period obviously, but the feast is slightly moveable depending on intensity of his hunger, whether he's very tired or not and how lazy I'm feeling). DH and I have supper tea supper tea (depending on whoever is serving up) any time between 7 and 10, this time depending on how long it took to get DS1 to bed. Hmm

I love the idea of cramming yet another meal into the day ('proper' supper) but frankly don't think we have time. We'd have to go to bed at 2 or something. Grin

(oh, and when we stay with DH's family, we have to eat the lunch-equivalent meal bang on at midday, and tea is at 5pm. For everyone, adults too. It's ok for PIL, they go to bed at 8 bloody 30! Shock I am raiding their fridge by 9.)

bemybebe · 17/04/2011 19:06

One think that came out of this thread for me. I want high tea and I will book one for next week (at Browns). Grin

ReshapeWhileDamp · 17/04/2011 19:08

What about Nursery Tea? Is anyone going to own up to having one of those? Grin

cantpooinpeace · 17/04/2011 19:09

Lunch is midday, tea is teatime eaten from 5 onwards - simples :)

trixymalixy · 17/04/2011 19:10

It's breakfast, lunch, dinner.

We go out for dinner to a restaurant or to friend's not out for tea.

dontcallmepeanut · 17/04/2011 19:11

Nursery tea? Confused

vintageteacups · 17/04/2011 19:11

Originally, tea was served at around 4pm and then dinner later. Now though, we miss tea so I call the evening meal tea.

At school we had/have dinner ladies so I have always called it dinner.

So generally, I say breakfast, dinner and tea.

nagynolonger · 17/04/2011 19:12

High tea is what small children eat in hotels. I still think a proper Sunday tea should include cake.......if it didn't include cake when would I use my cake stand?

Groovymoves · 17/04/2011 19:14

Breakfast
Dinner
Tea.

Yes I'm Northern.

StuckinTheMiddlewithYou · 17/04/2011 19:14

This thread is hilarious Grin

EasterWabbit · 17/04/2011 19:14

Tea - a drink

High Tea - Sandwiches, cakes and tea (the drink)

Dinner - The Evening repast

Supper - A meal after the Dinner hour - usually smaller than Dinner.

Wink
dontcallmepeanut · 17/04/2011 19:16

I thought high tea was what hippies had after a joint... Grin

StuckinTheMiddlewithYou · 17/04/2011 19:18

Yes, why is it called "high" tea? Anybody know?

naughtymummy · 17/04/2011 19:18

I cannot understand usihg tea for a proper meal eaten after 6. Is all wrong surely you mean dinner or supper (if very simple eg;soup or cheese and biscuits). Tea is taken between 4 and 6. This caused problems once with one of my mother's friends who I said I would come for tea. Arrived at 430, to find her preparing a 3 course meal to be served at 7!

mrsmellow · 17/04/2011 19:28

Just asked DH what we eat after our entree ( to see if he calls it pudding or desert) and he replied "amuse bouche"..... this is what I've married in to! At home we had tea in the evening and pudding afterwards!

naughtymummy · 17/04/2011 19:28

I say pudding too, although desert is ok. Sweet, is awful makes me think of sweeties, as in would you like a sweet ? Bizzare. Afters hmmm

nooka · 17/04/2011 19:37

My very formal grandparents both had
breakfast at 8
lunch at 1 (bread and cheese except on Sundays)
tea at 4 (cake and tea to drink) and
supper at 8 (cooked meal except for Sundays)

If there were small children then they had high tea (probably was nursery tea in the days when it was served in the nursery for children only by staff) at 6ish or so. My family are similar but less formal (the times are not set in stone for a starter) and my mother never really went in for formal tea.

No dinner involved. Dinner is a bit of an anomaly because you have school dinners at lunch time and dinner parties in the evening. I think it really means the big meal of the day and can be at any time (except breakfast I guess)

dh is from a very working class background and was brought up with different words for meals. Our children just ask when and what are we going to eat regardless of the meal involved. Much simpler I guess.

hifi · 17/04/2011 19:40

in yorkshire we say
breakfast
dinner
tea

naughtymummy · 17/04/2011 19:43

Nursery tea is a meal just served to children. My dad used this expression for something like scrambled eggs or pasta shapes on toast. We would have this on saturdays cooked ( well I say cooked) by Dad at around 530, while Mum had a bath before they went out to dinner. On other nights we all ate supper together around 630

lettinggo · 17/04/2011 19:45

It's dinner to me. Weekdays at 7pm, weekends 1pm. And we have dessert after.

worraliberty · 17/04/2011 19:47

Here it's

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

Slightly off topic but I have no idea why I refer to school meals as packed 'lunch' and school 'dinners'? Confused

naughtymummy · 17/04/2011 19:48

Also remember being given tea at friend's houses at 5 coming home and insisting on being fed again as I hadn't had my supper. My Mum being puzzled saying but x 's mummy said she fed you ....

nometime · 17/04/2011 19:51

Supper is that snack before bed which I shouldn't be eating!