To think that you’re evening meal is called ‘tea’ not ‘dinner’?!

[Biscoffaddict]

I see so many posters on here referring to their evening mea, as ‘dinner’, but in real life I’ve never met anyone who does this and it’s always ‘tea’. It always has been tea. My parents call it tea, my grandparents called it tea, my friends call it tea, my work colleagues call it tea etc. ‘Dinner’ is the meal you have in the middle of the day and that’s why school dinner ladies, are called dinner ladies!

I don’t know but I find it quite irrationally annoying! Surely I’m not alone?!

@Biscoffaddict

I don't think you should learn about the different words for bread roll used in different areas of the U.K. It would blow your mind.

I've never eaten luncheon but do still have a nostalgic regard for luncheon meat.

It's called whatever you call it. Personally I call it tea. But that doesn't mean everyone else has to.

Dinner is my main meal. Lunch in afternoon with dinner in evening or dinner in afternoon with tea in evening

I don't think you should learn about the different words for bread roll used in different areas of the U.K. It would blow your mind.

Muffin😂 We used to buy a ‘cheesy muff’ at dinnertime ( not tea!) < childish>

I'm northern and would always call my evening meal tea. I generally call my meal in the middle of the day lunch especially if I'm having something like a sandwich or soup but might call it dinner if it's a cooked meal.

@MarshaBradyo

Regional

Tea is never evening meal here, just the drink

This is the best way of putting it, for those snobs who insist that tea can only be a drink. And snobs they definitely are. Thank you for your sensible viewpoint, Marsha

Ha. Growing up in the North (Scarborough), it went breakfast, dinner and tea. Now (post a long stint in London and living in relatively posh York) it’s breakfast, lunch and dinner. Causes no end of confusion when discussing meals with my Mum who continues to refer to lunch as dinner. If you’re really posh, you eat supper!

Try telling the Ritz that tea isn't a meal.

@babyyodaxmas

Only children under 12 (and possibly geriatrics) have tea (like sandwiches or soft boiled egg with soliders) as their evening meal having had a hot meal at lunch time. The rest of us are out of the house from 7-6. So couldn't be home for tea time have breakfast, lunch and dinner (or supper) at supper time.

Don’t be ridiculous.

Yanbu.
Middle of the day is lunch.
Evening is tea. (No matter what you're eating).

Southernerer who grew up with a grandad from Yorkshire.

And at the Ritz you can take afternoon tea at 7.30pm!

I’m not sure why you find it so confusing that people have different words for it

We use the word interchangeably for our evening meal ... my son is nagging me about when it’s going to be ready ... he’s used both words in the last 10 minutes . Lunch is always lunch whether it’s a sandwich or main meal

To be fair I've just thought that we call it tea but if were on holiday in a hotel we would go for dinner. If in a SC cottage on holiday we might go out for tea

Only children under 12 (and possibly geriatrics) have tea (like sandwiches or soft boiled egg with soliders) as their evening meal having had a hot meal at lunch time. The rest of us are out of the house from 7-6. So couldn't be home for tea time have breakfast, lunch and dinner (or supper) at supper time.

Bollocks to that. Pre lockdown we got in about 5:30. Just in time to make a cooked tea. Adults but not geriatric.

It's regional, to me tea is a drink.

I was raised in the North by southern parents so I'm all muddled and say 'lunch' and 'tea'. I don't say dinner at all.

It's a class difference. I'm northern. In general, my working class friends have breakfast, dinner and tea; my middle class friends have breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner (like the Queen).

So working class have 3 meals and middle class have four?

It's a regional thing. We call it supper, but dinner if it's a bigger, more elaborate meal. We only call it tea rarely - usually when we get visitors around mid afternoon and they've been travelling and missed lunch, or want to treat someone - we have cake, sandwiches, bubbly - and tea! But then we don't usually eat much later as it's so filling!

My Polish neighbour is highly amused when I call the kids in for tea. "But you're not drinking tea!! 😂".

It's breakfast, lunch, supper as far as I'm concerned. Wild that some people think 'supper' is 'pretentious'...

@rc22

I'm northern and would always call my evening meal tea. I generally call my meal in the middle of the day lunch especially if I'm having something like a sandwich or soup but might call it dinner if it's a cooked meal.

This.

Everyone hereabouts calls it tea. Mind you if we went out to eat at, say, 8pm, it would be hard to call it tea so would tend to say going out for a meal, rather than dinner

alexdgr8
purple is a type of red, not blue.
why do some people call it a type of blue.
why do they insist on being so annoying. of course its red.

I expect you mean violet? The rainbow goes violet indigo blue green yellow orange red (or red orange yellow green blue indigo violet if you start at the other end) and I've never heard anyone say purple when they were reciting the colours of the rainbow.

(is there an emoji here for "tongue-in-cheek"?)