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?!

Depends where you are from. I'm northern and we have breakfast, dinner, tea.
Those who call the midday one "lunch" do you call your kids meal at school lunch too? We would say school dinner.

Your dinner is your main hot meal of the day. So can be in the middle of the day or in the evening.

I'd then have either lunch or tea in the evening, depending on when my main meal was. As it is, we always have dinner in the evening, so lunch is the middle of the day.

I've taught the kids this too, and they're NW-born (and that's where we live), so it's 'tea as evening meal regardless of what it is' country! I've taken it as a small win!

We always have our dinner in the evening. We have our lunch in the middle of the day. I’m a teacher and the soup or salad or sandwich I have at “lunchtime” is not dinner! Dinner is what I eat in the evening.

Dinner can be used interchangeably according to which time of day you have a cooked meal - so if you have a burger and chips for lunch you've had your dinner. Supper is too wanky though so later in the day we'll say 'I've had my dinner so I'm not having any tonight, I'll just have toast' (or whatever)

@Notimeforaname

So you dont even have lunch op?.

I have my dinner in the middle of the day. I get it’s probably regional. I live in Wales. But when you watch Coronation Street for example, set in Manchester, they also say tea.

School have lunchtime supervisors here. Not only is dinner not in the middle of the day but it’s not just a job for women.

Midday is lunch and evening is dinner or supper. The children often have an early tea but dinner is never ever in the afternoon.

It's regional/class-based. I'm 50 and practically everybody I ever knew (including all my family, all generations) called the evening meal 'dinner' until I moved up north 6 years ago. We still call it dinner, but most people round here call it tea.

Tbh it's very well known that it's normal to call it one or the other depending on where you come from, so yes YAB kind of U to say whole swathes of the country are annoying for calling their evening meal by the word that is totally normal for them!

that’s why school dinner ladies, are called dinner ladies!

Except my kids and all their friends call them the lunch ladies

Im obviously a common Northern working class wench

It's region specific. I've always had breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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

For some reason this made me laugh. I pictured you giving some tubthumping speech on the evils of veering from the true path of TEA!

So when you go to a restaurant the ask you if you’d like the dinner or tea menu?

Umm, no they don’t.

Kids take a pack lunch to school, not a pack dinner!!

So long as it’s not called “supper”, which is properly insufferable.

Why?

We have lunch at midday and dinner in the evening except on Sundays when we have Sunday Lunch ( a roast dinner ) followed by tea ( usually cheese and biscuits or a sandwich made with left over roast meat )

I can see why it's confusing!

For me dinner is the hot main meal of the day, whatever time it's served. The other cold meal would then either be lunch or supper. My dh on the other hand calls any evening meal tea. Both mostly brought up in SW. Think everyone just has their own versions.

Dinner is an evening meal
Tea is a drink or an afternoon meal with scones

@ofwarren There are no such things as school dinners in my country. We all eat lunches at lunchtime.

@MrsPerfect12

Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper. Afternoon and supper are snacks.

Absolutely!

We are in glasgow.

Its breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Tea is something you drink.

So when you have your 1pm dinner is this always a cooked dish? Or is it a sandwich and a cup of tea but just called dinner?

@PinkyU

So when you go to a restaurant the ask you if you’d like the dinner or tea menu?

Umm, no they don’t.

No. They just ask if you want to see the menu?

The only time I use the word lunch is if I say lunch box. Other than that it's breakfast, dinner, then tea.

I don't think it matters what you call the evening meal but you mean 'your' not 'you're' and that matters.

Surely it depends where you're from. For me tea is a hot drink. YABU getting so annoyed about regional differences.

@GreenSlide Oh dear...awkward!