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AIBU?

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Original poster

Am I the only one that doesn't use the word 'tea'?!

369 replies

BlondieLoxie · 28/07/2016 09:19

Yesterday I was corrected for using the word dinner instead of tea!

Tea to me is the hot stuff in a cup which I love 😁 Dinner is dinner. Supper..what is that? Am I in the minority here that I simply say breakfast, lunch, dinner and possibly dessert.

OP posts:
motheroftwoboys · 28/07/2016 14:25

Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Tea is occasional treat with scones, jam and cream etc. (or a glass of prosecco as enjoyed with a friend yesterday). Wink Definitely northern - Newcastle. Trying to get DHS2s lovely girlfriend trained up as she says tea and it confuses me to hell. She's from Yorkshire so technically a southerner.

Memoires · 28/07/2016 14:25

Agree, Santa. Dessert is just awful. Pudding is pudding.

AgadorSpartacus · 28/07/2016 14:27

I say Breakfast Lunch Tea.

I've just realised I don't dinner at all.

and we say pudding.

Shinyshoes2 · 28/07/2016 14:27

Breakfast , lunch , dinner

diddl · 28/07/2016 14:55

Same as you, Agador

We have our main cooked meal at 1/2pm.

Evening meal is omelette, cheese on toast...

Doesn't seem right to call that dinner!

MerchantofVenice · 28/07/2016 15:05

I don't think anyone is 'judging' as such (replying to a comment a couple of pages back now) - just saying which words we prefer (and which make us cringe - in a light-hearted way, surely? )

I was obviously only saying things were 'wanky' in a jokey way! I don't literally flip out and call someone a wanker if they mention supper.

But, on the other hand, I genuinely can't stand pretentiousness. I know someone who is just the type of person to tell you that they say dessert, serviette etc because they think it's posh. These are the sorts of people who say 'sorry, I'm a terrible snob' Aaargghh!!

DailyMailEthicalFail · 28/07/2016 15:34

Breakfast.
Elevensies.
Lunch.
Afternoon Tea.
Dinner.
Supper.

H is from Brum. He calls Lunch, Dinner.
Kids brought up in Scotland with me.
They call Dinner, Tea.
Plus, here, we have High Tea (cooked course plus cake and pot of tea).

I agree that 'Tea' for kids can be beans on toast type thing rather than proper cooked meal with 3 or four components and pudding. therefore sometimes dd is invited for Tea (dinner round here) and will come home starving having had half a cheese sandwich and some crisps. Kids Tea at ours is something like spag bol / cottage pie / lasagna / pizzas and salads and pudding and icecream. All v confusing.

DailyMailEthicalFail · 28/07/2016 15:37

I don't think 'dessert' and 'serviette' is 'posh'?
It's pudding and a napkin, surely?

I do have a vision of Boris saying: 'would you like to come to Supp-ah?' leeringly to some unfortunate pretty research assistant, whenever anyone (inc myself) says 'supper' however Grin

Toooldtobearsed · 28/07/2016 15:43

Lots of cringers on this thread - really?

Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Unless it is a Sunday, then it is breakfast, dinner, tea. Sunday dinner served at 2pm and tea - sandwiches, cake and a pot of tea at tea time😊

To me, dinner is a hot, main meal and tea is a 'high tea' type of repast.

I cannot, for the life of me, envisage cringing if someone calls a meal tea, or supper. Different strokes for different folks! I am northern btw.

Swifey · 28/07/2016 15:52

Breakfast, lunch, supper, average times are 7am, 1pm and 8pm, the dc have their supper about 5:30, unless it's Sunday, when we have brunch about 11, (dc have way breakfast too) and then late lunch about 4:30pm so that we all eat together, and then we may have a snack after they are in bed. Tea is a drink, and high tea is something like baked beans on toast or French toast had about 5pm. You go out for dinner, and it's always pudding. Wink

BobbinThreadbare123 · 28/07/2016 15:56

I couldn't care less what people call it, but I don't like the word 'supper'. It's sort of slurpy. Ick.

Girlsthatsing · 28/07/2016 16:00

I would never say going out for dinner. Far too posh. Just going out for something to eat.

thepenguinsrock · 28/07/2016 16:05

I say breakfast, dinner and tea which is sandwiches etc at dinner and hot food at tea time.
My hubby always says breakfast, lunch and dinner but is appalled when I offer him a sandwich as to him lunch is something slightly more filling I think 😕 we have always lived in the same town but my parents were poor and his were the better than everyone types so maybe that's why 😂

blitheringbuzzards1234 · 28/07/2016 16:06

Breakfast dinner tea, as a child in the East Midlands.

It's regional like many things - we (DH from London) were invited to 'tea' by a northern lady and her southern DH. I asked what she meant beforehand as I didn't want to risk eating two dinners in one day. Good job I asked. She meant what we call dinner, a starter, meat and veg with bread/butter on the side then a pudding. Optional wine.

A colleague of DH's asked us to tea and told us what he meant by this - literally a pot of tea with biscuits/cake.

I guess time of day gives a clue - mid-afternoon tends to be the lighter option, early evening a full meal.

A posh friend of mine refers to her evening meal as supper. As children this meant a cuppa tea and a biscuit. A minefield!

dizzyfucker · 28/07/2016 16:07

For me dinner is a big cooked meal, tea is a light meal and supper is late evening snack, especially if you've already had one of the other options.

Then there's a cup of tea.

Grumpyoldblonde · 28/07/2016 16:12

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Always pudding, never dessert.
Supper would be a small evening meal, I would possibly have 'supper' if I had been out for a huge lunch.
Whatever words people use they are perfectly understandable and to correct someone for saying dinner/tea is very rude.

dizzyfucker · 28/07/2016 16:14

I'd forgotten about high tea, my Yorkshire grandparents had that with sandwiches, cakes, biscuits and a pot of tea at about 4 or 5 o'clock.

gingerboy1912 · 28/07/2016 16:19

I grew up in a family that said afters, Meaning pudding or dessert.

ChickyDuck · 28/07/2016 16:20

I have breakfast and lunch. Dinner, tea and supper are all interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. The only exception is if you are eating out. Only dinner or supper can be had at a restaurant, tea can only happen in someone's home!

hollinhurst84 · 28/07/2016 16:22

Breakfast, dinner, tea, brew

ineedwine99 · 28/07/2016 16:23

Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Tea is a hot drink. Though to be fair i've only said dinner the past 5 years ish since i met my southern husband (i'm a northerner, most northerners call evening meal tea i think) :-)

Grumpyoldblonde · 28/07/2016 16:23

What about the Christmas meal, if you have it later in the day then surely that is not Christmas tea? For me it would always be Christmas dinner whether I ate it at 9am, noon, 3pm or 8pm.

pinkunicornsarefluffy · 28/07/2016 16:30

Barbara what I mean is that to most farmers of my fathers generation, if it wasn't cooked then it wasn't a proper meal. He would have created merry hell if given cold sandwiches for dinner instead of a full on roast. It was expected seven days a week

StayAtHomeNotMum · 28/07/2016 16:41

Breakfast, lunch, supper.

My DP always stopped about 11 for a coffee, usuallly with the daily help.
When my DB and I were little, we had our tea after school, DP had supper later.

And we didn't have dinner ladies at school - they were called the kitchen staff.

StayAtHomeNotMum · 28/07/2016 16:44

Always pudding
Dinner was used as a shortening of "dinner party" either attending or hosting.

We would have been roasted for saying dinner, dessert, afters, serviette, toilet or lavatory as children - not acceptable words in my DM's eyes (or ears!)