..to wonder why everyone refers to the evening meal the kids have as 'tea' not 'dinner'?

[Tweettwo]

We don't live up North so why call it 'tea'?

I am reading the Famous Five books and they refer to the midday meal as dinner. It confused me as I always call it lunch. Dinner is an evening meal. I also call the kids meal at around 5pm tea.

I'm Welsh and say breakfast, dinner and tea. Although i do refer to the evening meal as dinner sometimes too. I never say lunch though.

Tea is when you have A CUP OF tea with cake. Maybe sandwiches too.

Its breakfast, lunch and dinner in this house. I'm a southerner living up north and everyone says breakfast, dinner and tea which drives me crazy. Its quite confusing too. I once invited a new friend round for tea. She came to my house expecting a meal! we laugh about it now.

We all have tea in our house whether its eaten at 5PM or 8PM or if its DC or us adults (we dont make the DC's wait until 8 though)

York born and bred both me and DH. Now live in the NE.

Breakfast = morning
Dinner = Meal in middle of day
Tea = meal at night - you can have your tea at 9pm if you wanted because it's still your meal at night.
Supper = what you have before you go to bed - could be toast or some biscuits or cereal, normally just a light snack though.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Tea is a rather disgusting hot drink and supper is something I've read about in Jilly Cooper's books.

So when do we eat luncheon meat?

At dinner?

I've met a lot of dinner ladies and ladies who lunch

But never a lunch lady or ladies who dinner.

Definitely breakfast, lunch and dinner (at 9 ish) for us and we live up North. When the boys were young they had "tea" much earlier but my DH and I always ate together later. If "dinner" is just one course and just the two of us in front of the tv then we tend to call it supper - still always at 9 though. Interesting how we are all so different. Our DS2s girlfriend is from Yorkshire and she calls dinner tea (even if it is at 9).

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. I DETEST the word 'supper', it's so horrible. Tea is a hot drink not a meal.

Just another thought - as I mull over this - if someone asked you out to go out for tea surely you would expect the full afternoon job with sandwiches and scones and cakes (yum) not dinner?

OK so either breakfast, dinner (hot meal) and tea (sarnies) or breakfast, lunch (sarnies) & dinner (hot meal) - its all about time of day and what's being eaten.
I am not northern but my parents are!

Exactly mother. I wouldn't go to our local Indian restaurant at 9pm for my tea.

Evening meal is toasted sandwich/cheese on toast/cobs

I thought a cob was a horse

Breakfast, dinner, tea.

Grew up in Wales.

Of course there is some confusion if one of us asks "Tea?" at about 6pm and we have to specify whether that's food tea or drink tea.

We're not "oop North" but we have 'Breakfast, Dinner, Tea here, and always have. I guess it comes down to what your parents called it, which comes down to what their parents called it, etc.,etc.,etc

Here in the Midlands everyone except us says 'tea'. We say dinner but are very posh .

I'm a northerner living down south so I've changed from dinner to lunch but still call tea, tea. Except if we go out to eat, then it's dinner.

My 4yr old has sorted the issue of tea the drink being confused with tea the meal, she has declared that tea the drink is henceforth known as 'brown'. Fancy a nice cup of brown anyone?

Breakfast, Dinner and tea here too.

We've just had Tea - hot drinks and cake.

Dinner will be around 8pm.

I confused the school receptionist by labelling DC's envelope "Lunch Money"
and she gave it back to me and said its too early to pay for Christmas Lunch.

We eat Breakfast, Lunch, Tea (sometimes) and Dinner. Might squeeze in some Supper while watching tv later, too.

Breakfast, Dinner, Tea. From Manchester.
Supper is a snack before bed time. The word supper being used for any other meal makes me want to rip my ears off. Cos it's posh,innit.....

Breakfast
Lunch
Tea.

Shropshire.

Sophie, in The Tiger Who Came To Tea, is eating tea with her Mummy while the supper (that she clearly isn't going to get) is cooking on the stove.

The fact that the greedy Tiger wolfs the whole lot is irrelevant

There's even some illustrations to show us the difference

Lancashire. Breakfast dinner tea.

Just told DD her Dad will be home for his tea in a minute.

Breakfast dinner and tea for me - originally from Manchester, now living in the south east.
Dinner was originally at midday. Interesting article here about the changes in the timing of dinner:
www.history-magazine.com/dinner2.html