Is "having my tea" a northern thing?

[Queenoftheblitz]

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?

Tea here. From down south, live up north.

DH from overseas and evening meal is always dinner to him.

Breakfast, dinner and tea up here in Lincolnshire

I'm from Bedfordshire and I usually call it 'tea' which my dh thinks is weird. I also sometimes call it dinner- maybe 20% of the time. I guess it do it because my df was from Derby and he maybe called it 'tea'? That's the only think I can think of as to why I'm the only person I know who calls an evening meal 'tea'!

For those that call the midday meal 'dinner'

If you buy a sandwich for that meal, do you still describe that as dinner? Would you say you'd eaten your dinner at your desk (for example)?

To those who call the evening meal tea: if you have your evening meal at 9pm, is that still called tea?

Yes to both questions. Dinner can be a sandwich or a cup a soup. Tea is tea if you eat it as your evening meal. Eating after 9 is only supper if you already had tea but fancy cheese and biscuits.

And if anyone calls the thing they have after dinner anything other than pudding I will stave their fucking heads in.

Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters, Afters and even more afters.

tea and dinner were always interchangble growing up (South west), but in this house it is just food or eat, 'what do u want to eat', 'gonna make a start on food', 'what time are we eating' with dinner only on Sundays any time between 12 and 5 or if we are going out to a nicer place (so anywhere above Maccy Ds lol) then it is 'we are going out for dinner'

South East here. Depends on what I'm eating - hot meal around midday would be called dinner and a sandwich etc later would be called tea, but if the sandwiches are around midday that would be lunch and hot meal later would be dinner. Dinner is always the hot meal to me.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

I win.

Fascinating thread!
Hong Kong-born here. DM from Cheshire. DF a HK-born Scot. Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. Came to Australia and were bemused by people referring to the evening meal as tea.
Australian XMIL was furious when I told her that DD, then aged 1, didn't do caffeine.

Actually, that’s not strictly true. It’s definitely breakfast. Full stop. Then yes, lunch. Another full stop. However, we eat Christmas lunch at lunchtime and call it Christmas dinner so things are getting weird. Although I also would say I’m going out for dinner if dining out in the evening, at home I’d say what’s for tea? So, as you can see it’s all a right old mess.

As long as I get my breakfast, lunch and tea (dinner) all will be well.

Lunch then supper. Pudding afterwards. Dinner when friends round. Just what I was brought up with (by Grandmother)...

Breakfast, lunch and supper

Supper here is a couple of biscuits, or a slice of toast and a cup of tea (which is totally different to the tea we ate earlier at tea-time ) date just before bedtime.

Date?? Eaten, fgs!

oh @steamtrains, a poster after my own heart 🤣🤣🤣. Thank u I needed a giggle this morning, I even had images of a kid at the table banging their fists going 'afters, afters, we. want. afters!'

It does sound ridiculous to call a sandwich dinner, that is going to far. I'm not calling a yogurt or an apple pudding either. We don't call it desert or afters, we don't do puddings/ deserts/ afters. The kids just ask for a yogurt or fruit. Calling an apple pudding would be nuts, a pudding is something that has been cooked or at least mixed/ whisked/ prepared in some way by someone...

I grew up with 'tea' as the evening meal - my Dad is from the NE so I guess it came from him, and my Mum is from very rural SW - not sure if that makes a difference.

However, as I got older, moved out etc, I now call it dinner. However, Australian PIL call it tea!

Im northern i call it dinner and tea x

Scottish.
Breakfast
Dinner
Tea a meal or sandwiches/cake at 5ish
Supper later pm toast or similar.

Although funnily enough kids take a 'packed lunch' to school but if they have school meals its 'school dinners' 😀

East Midlands for Me. It's always been dinner and tea.