AIBU to ask which is the most neutral term dinner, supper or tea?

[ConfusedWife1234]

AIBU to ask which the most neutral term for dinner/supper/tea is? I am not a native speaker and I have been told that your usage of the word says a lot about ethnic ancestry, social class, if your are from the UK, US or another English speaking country, part of the country and so on. Which is the most neutral term and when do I use which one?

'Don't forget "brinner" BTW. This is another portmanteau word standing for "breakfast for dinner", in other words a meal resembling a typical cooked breakfast - bacon, egg, sausage, beans etc. but served as your evening meal. Or is that just in our house?'

We call that brunch, even when we eat it in the evening (This is mainly driven by German dh, who loves it and is always the one to make it, with fried potatoes/onion/tomatoes, scrambled eggs and baked beans).

@AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight

Thats just you 🤣🤣

No, we have it too, but call it a mixed grill. Stupid, because it may well be missing vital components, but anything that contains bacon, eggs and mushrooms, and is eaten after 1pm, is a mixed grill 😁

Breakfast, dinner, tea.

Am I the only one who use the munchies to mean that excessive feeling of hunger you get when you have been smoking marijuana which leads you to hoover up virtually everything in the fridge/larder?

Wouldn't you just eat your evening meal - dinner- at an appropriate time and adequately, so that you don't need to eat again before bed?

When I was a child the main meal of the day was served relatively early at about 6pm. This was because my father had a hard manual job and could only take sandwiches for his midday meal. Hence he wanted to eat something substantial as soon as he got in.

We usually had a light snack before bed e.g. toast or a scone or a biscuit and this was called supper.

It has all gone to pot.

There are no eating standards in UK anymore. Such a shame. lol.

Honestly I have enjoyed this thread but wonder why still!

Yes extinct species that's the main context I've heard 'munchies' used. If someone said to me that they had the munchies I'd automatically assume they were stoned

Is that what keyboardkate meant by "It has all gone to pot" ?

Traditionally it goes.(if uk) Breakfast. Elevenses. Lunch. Afternoon tea. Dinner. Supper. Usually only upper middle class or upper class use the term supper for dinner. Some people use the term tea for dinner. Some use the american term brunch meaning a late breakfast near lunchtime. Hope thats clear! Just ask in your area...

Meant to say that supper is actually a small meal later than dinner as others have said.

I have only ever heard 'munchies' used in the context of being stoned and getting the munchies, never as just a snack.

I had no idea supper was so common. I would call that a pre bed snack but I very rarely need a snack before bed. Perhaps because I eat dinner later rather than an early tea.

Also a non-native speaker here

I use
Breakfast
lunch
dinner

This is how we learned English in school.

Tea is a drink and DD never gets “tea” as in food at our house as we eat dinner each evening as a family. It confused the hell out of her as prior to a play date the hosting mum asked her “what would you like for tea” and DD looked at me saying” but mummy, I don’t drink tea, what should I say”.

I only came across Supper in novels. As we eat dinner quite late DD or we never need another snack before bedtime and chocolate or crisps do not count as food.

When I was a child the main meal of the day was served relatively early at about 6pm

other than eating out or takeaway at weekends that's just regular dinner time for me any later & I couldn't be bothered with the faff

I grew up with breakfast, lunch, tea and supper. My grandparents, who were very formal had rigid times for each meal, breakfast at 8am, lunch at 1pm, tea at 4pm and supper at 8pm. No other eating allowed. My parents were a bit more relaxed. My grandparents always had formal tea, which involved sitting down at a table with a pot of tea and cake for grownups but children also had bread and butter/jam and maybe something like scrambled eggs because it would be their only evening meal. Growing up that turned into a meal for us children after school, my parents still had supper later once my father came home from work. If we had friends over they would have tea with us and not supper with my parents.

My working class dh used dinner for lunch (main meal) and tea in the evening (light meal), but after many years together and emigrating to a different English speaking country we have settled on breakfast, lunch and supper. The only issue we have with inviting friends over is that we tend to eat at between 7 and 8 and they tend to eat at around 6ish. After a few cock ups (eg the time we served up spag bol to surprised guests who were only expecting a beer) we now just ask whether food is part of the evening or not.

Oh dear,

I am a poster with a sense of humour. Pity others do not have that and critique every word from anyone else.

Look, having the munchies means needing a snack be it a toasted sandwich or a pack of pringles or whatever.

Honestly you lot are demented conflating this with drug addiction!

But whatever floats yer boats I suppose.

First year at Uni, a fellow student told us that his landlady seemed a bit odd, never preparing the evening meal he was paying for. We discovered that each morning, she would ask whether he would be in for dinner, he assumed she meant the midday meal and said no, I'm never back for dinner. He would then turn up early evening and wonder why there was never any sign of any food for the evening meal which was included in his rent. It generated quite an interesting conversation about what we all meant by these words...

I grew up abroad, and have learned to give guests a bit more information than 'just' the name. For me

• i would offer a cup of tea, or coffee, or a soft drink, or a glass of wine. Anytime people come to visit, really, maybe have a biscuit, or some olives etc, maybe not

• dinner would be an evening meal, with a bit of effort made, probably more than one course, definitely with some planning and preparation included

• supper would be much more informal, say on the way back from something, I'd offer to come back to ours, and promise to find something for supper, where you could count on something, maybe bread and cheese, or soup and a salad. I might have prepared it in advance, or i might genuinely forage to see what we could find. An omelette...or send DH out for takeaway 😀

This is funny. kate yeh I always mean I'm a bit hungry and looking fir something to nibble on when I have the munchies. Used to like those chocolate sweets called Munchies till they changed the recipe but theres another thread for that!

Now, I may be confusing things a little further but in my opinion...
Tea is cold food in the evening. Sandwiches or salad.
Dinner is hot food whether served in the middle of the day or in the evening!
Lunch is cold food served in the middle of the day!

melkinpoor OP is prob getting well confused by now anyway! Where I live some say tea or dinner for eve meal. Some still say supper! (not many though)

keyboardkate

Getting the munchies because you're stoned is nothing to do with drug addiction

In the US dinner and supper are interchangeable terms for the evening meal, with dinner more common and supper going out of style. My teenagers always ask "What's for din(ner)? or "When is din(ner) going to be ready"? Yes, they've shortened the word to just "din".

We don't do tea here.

Automatic.

Munchies. I think I need something now!

LOL. sorry for the lol I believe that it is not cricket now to use that expression either, but I don't care about that.

Looking at leftover roast beef in the fridge right now, but may wait. Maybe!

We have all been there.

Oh and lunch can be hot or cold. If you see s lunch menu in a restaurant it has hot or cold too. It's interesting how everyone has a different take on it. I'm enjoying this thread. Never heard of brinner till now either.

One of the reasons why some call lunch, dinner is steeped in history.

Remember the old 'upstairs' (the posh folks) and the 'downstairs' people (the staff)? Well...

When the posh folk had dinner, that would be in the evening, but in order for their meals to be prepared on time, the 'downstairs' working class folks would have their dinner beforehand. Thus the posh 'dinner' was in the evening and the working class dinner was far earlier.