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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

999 replies

Biscoffaddict · 04/02/2021 16:33

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?!

OP posts:
HappydaysArehere · 05/02/2021 09:34

This used to be the case back in the forties and fifties but not since then. It’s lunch in the middle of the day., tea is something light like a cake and tea and dinner is your main substantial meal.

angieloumc · 05/02/2021 09:37

I'm in the north and most people say breakfast, dinner and tea. Our family however say breakfast, lunch and tea, unless we're going out to eat and then that's dinner. I find it's a regional thing rather than class.

MrsBrunch · 05/02/2021 09:45

Anyone who has breakfast, dinner, tea can you tell me what do you call lunchtime play at school, is it dinnertime play?

Also, at work, what do you call your lunch break, is it dinner break? At work people sometimes say, is anyone stopping for lunch - would you say is anyone stopping for dinner?

What about popping out of work in your lunch break, do you call it your dinner break? And if you take a packed lunch to work or school what do you call it?

Thanks

lynsey91 · 05/02/2021 09:46

@ElectraBlue

Nobody uses 'tea' in London. It's dinner....
Plenty of people in London say tea
Soon2BeMrs · 05/02/2021 09:47

Yep..for me it's tea Grin

PattyPan · 05/02/2021 09:48

So if you invite a group of friends over for an evening meal are you having a dinner party or a tea party? Those are very different things.

Cpl654321 · 05/02/2021 09:49

@x2boys maybe that's a thread I could get behind because I had no idea you could boil mince! Do you drain it after like pasta? I'm so grossed out and intrigued at the same time

XiCi · 05/02/2021 10:01

So if you invite a group of friends over for an evening meal are you having a dinner party or a tea party?
I think most people would just say to their friends 'would you like to come round for a meal'. Calling it a dinner party when its a meal for a few friends sounds laughingly stilted and formal.

XiCi · 05/02/2021 10:04

What's the word for brunch up North?
Oooooh could it be..............brunch? Like in the rest of the entire world Hmm

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 05/02/2021 10:06

I used to call my dc ‘puddings’ when they were little. Is this acceptable?😄

81Byerley · 05/02/2021 10:09

@Biscoffaddict I guess you're from the North?

bluebluezoo · 05/02/2021 10:09

It depends..

“Dinner” is your main meal. If you have it in the middle of the day, or in the evening, it’s dinner.

Lunch is a lighter meal if you plan to have a big dinner later.

Tea is a lighter meal if you’ve already had a big dinner.

Perfectly clear Grin

AryaStarkWolf · 05/02/2021 10:12

@bluebluezoo

It depends..

“Dinner” is your main meal. If you have it in the middle of the day, or in the evening, it’s dinner.

Lunch is a lighter meal if you plan to have a big dinner later.

Tea is a lighter meal if you’ve already had a big dinner.

Perfectly clear Grin

I kind of agree but I would still never use tea under any circumstances (to describe a meal) If I was having my big meal in the middle of the day I'd say I'm having my dinner at lunchtime and I'll have something small later :p
HowQuicklyTwoAndTwenty890 · 05/02/2021 10:13

I have found this discussion very interesting. i agree that while I use 'lunch' i do use the words Sunday Dinner or Christmas dinner for those meals, even if they are in the middle of the day.

However, DH eats very very lightly and can only handle one meal a day. So we often have a special meal for occasions (birthdays etc) about 3 pm and we call it 'Linner'. Grin That's just us though!

MooseBreath · 05/02/2021 10:22

Dinner is an evening meal. Lunch is in the middle of the day. Tea is a beverage.

EttaKett · 05/02/2021 10:22

@XiCi

What's the word for brunch up North? Oooooh could it be..............brunch? Like in the rest of the entire world Hmm
No, because we talk funny up here, and all say tea rather than dinner only I have lived up north all my life, and don't know a single person who says dinner and tea rather than lunch and dinner/supper
ThornAmongstRoses · 05/02/2021 10:24

Breakfast, dinner and tea.

TheChip · 05/02/2021 10:24

I thought brunch was just an American thing

Parker231 · 05/02/2021 10:26

We’re in London and go for brunch each Sunday at our local deli. Have also had brunch at some of the hotels in Dubai.

Bluesheep8 · 05/02/2021 10:28

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

Yep.
Oh and breakfast, lunch and tea here.

Ninkanink · 05/02/2021 10:30

@TheChip

I thought brunch was just an American thing
No it has British origins.

I fancy a champagne brunch now...in fact we’ll have one to celebrate our anniversary this month! With croissants and coffee, rye bread and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Maybe some melon with Parma ham as well.

aSofaNearYou · 05/02/2021 10:32

Funnily, it never seems to be people who say dinner who start conversations like this stating that only their way is right 🙄

Dinner means your main, hot meal of the day. So there was a time when working class people in particular would tend to have this in the middle of the day, hence why they would refer to that meal as dinner. In modern times, I know very few people who don't have their main meal in the evening. So that being the case, calling the evening meal dinner is generally the one that is correct.

But I would never feel the need to point that out if the "tea" brigade weren't so bloody obtuse about it!

x2boys · 05/02/2021 10:35

I have no idea how you would boil mince @Cpl654321 but it is a thing apparently 🤣 I'm in the dry fry camp myself .

x2boys · 05/02/2021 10:39

I suppose I shouldn't ask what people call a meal from the chip shop on a Friday evening ,I guess that's a whole new thread ,here it's a chippy tea , and chips and gravy is a good thing even better on a buttie 🤣🤣

EttaKett · 05/02/2021 10:41

@x2boys

I suppose I shouldn't ask what people call a meal from the chip shop on a Friday evening ,I guess that's a whole new thread ,here it's a chippy tea , and chips and gravy is a good thing even better on a buttie 🤣🤣
That would be an ironic "Chippy Tea" where I live. No gravy, though.