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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is "having my tea" a northern thing?

422 replies

Queenoftheblitz · 29/04/2018 13:14

I'm a working class southerner. The only tea I have is in a cup with milk and sugar.
On mn a lot of posts talk about their evening meal as"tea", "what shall i make for tea" etc.
Do any southeners call it tea?

OP posts:
WeirdAndPissedOff · 30/04/2018 08:40

Pudding is usually dessert here, though growing up it was "afters" - not sure if that was just a family thing.

Never called it pudding - though would consider it only if it's a hot sponge dessert

TwittleBee · 30/04/2018 08:44

WeirdAndPissedOff yes we had "afters" too for dessert and we still do use that now! DH thinks I am being a weirdo when I use it around him.

MrsPotatoHeadIsMyIdol · 30/04/2018 09:02

Dinner is a lunch and tea is dinner here

Snog · 30/04/2018 09:03

If you eat out, do they not always stick to
Breakfast menu
Lunch menu
Afternoon tea menu (sandwiches & cake)
Dinner menu

notacooldad · 30/04/2018 09:04

Oh hang on - I have lunch and tea
Me to

Penguin34 · 30/04/2018 09:17

We're south east and have breakfast, lunch and dinner.
BUT sometimes my husband calls lunch dinner then he would still call dinner dinner, he didn't have 2 dinners tho, one was lunch! Grin
My parents would invite me for Sunday dinner which is at dinner (evening time) but if we were to go out for Sunday dinner they would call it Sunday lunch even if it was at dinner time (eve)!! Grin

All a tad confusing really

Pollysuki · 30/04/2018 09:19

I am a Londoner and have always called the evening meal tea. Perhaps I have northern roots somewhere Grin

Brazenhussy0 · 30/04/2018 09:21

Breakfast – morning meal
Lunch – cold midday meal (sandwiches and the like)
Dinner – hot midday meal (stovies, baked potato etc. or a roast like Christmas Dinner)
Tea – late afternoon meal between 5.00pm – 6.00pm
Supper – small snack after about 8.00pm and before bedtime

Working class and Scottish.

isthismummy · 30/04/2018 09:22

You have your dinner at midday and your tea on an evening.

I'm from DurhamSmile

Penguin34 · 30/04/2018 09:23

I'd rather live on brunch and afternoon tea, they are the best meals!

AdidasGirl · 30/04/2018 09:53

Breakfast.
Lunch.
Supper.

I'm Welsh but attended boarding school.

Lotsofhappysmiles · 30/04/2018 09:53

It was breakfast, dinner, tea growing up. (Working class from Oop North.)

Now I use lunch/dinner and dinner/tea interchangeably.

Only had supper once, staying over at a friend's house (in the 60s, before sleepovers were invented). Heinz tomato soup and buttered toast, on our laps, watching the telly Smile.

mydogisthebest · 30/04/2018 11:13

I am certainly not a Northerner (born in London) and I call the evening meal "tea".

sprinklesandsauce · 30/04/2018 11:15

South West here so not northern. Have always called it breakfast, dinner and tea.

amyj1994 · 30/04/2018 11:47

I'm from Liverpool and call it tea.. but if I'm going out for an evening meal I'll call it Dinner, and I never call lunch dinner, just lunch!

Tigerblue · 30/04/2018 11:52

Southern half of England - breakfast, lunch and then tea or dinner(!) depending how we refer to it on spur of moment.

DD has a scholarship at a private boarding school, they have tea from 3.30pm which is a drink, cake, scones, fruit and they supper from 6pm which is a cooked meal

bananafish81 · 30/04/2018 11:58

If you eat out, do they not always stick to
Breakfast menu
Lunch menu
Afternoon tea menu (sandwiches & cake)
Dinner menu

I'd be very interested to see a menu that had dinner served at lunchtime and evening meal as tea!

UndomesticHousewife · 30/04/2018 12:04

I’m a Londoner I have breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Tea is a drink. But when people said they were having their tea (food) I thought it was an afternoon snack before their dinner. I know now they are eating their main evening meal.

MrsPepperpot79 · 30/04/2018 12:14

breakfast and lunch. Dinner for if it's the main meal of the day. If we have had a roast lunch then it might be "tea" - ie cold sandwiches, bit of cake, snacky stuff.

Supper for if we're being well posh and inviting friends ( who were born with a silver spoon ) for a late, simple meal with us in the evening... But even then, I'd probably call it dinner normally!

Southern. Very southern - almost to the point of falling into the sea southern... But my nan (sheffield lass) would have thought me very pretentious.

BlooperReel · 30/04/2018 12:47

Southerner here, lunch and dinner, tea is a hot beverage. Not a meal.

CatWhisker · 30/04/2018 12:49

I grew up in greater London and my parents called it tea

Youshallnotpass · 30/04/2018 12:54

South West here

Breakfast
Lunch or Dinner
Tea

mintymellons · 30/04/2018 14:26

Lunch and tea in north Yorks

QuestioningStuffBanana · 30/04/2018 14:29

I'm from London and we always had breakfast, lunch and dinner.

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 30/04/2018 14:34

I'm a southerner and my first boyfriend was from Yorkshire although his family had moved down. His mum invited me round for tea on a Sunday and I was expecting sandwiches and cake so had a roastie at my Mum's for lunch. Lo and behold, turned up at his mum's and had another roastie waiting for me! Felt like the Vicar of Dibley at Christmas Grin

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