My sister has started calling her evening meal supper ...

[TheFateofOphelia]

She was talking about having friends round for "supper" on Friday. I was puzzled as she knows, and I know, that supper is a piece of toast if you're feeling peckish at bedtime.

Apparently, now she's moved to Surrey she no longer has her dinner between 12 and 1, she has lunch. Now I'm ok with that but AIBU to draw the line at her having supper at tea time?

I grew up in Surrey. Lunch and dinner. The only two people i knew who had supper were South African.

Not UK raised . So it is definitely Breakfast and / or Brunch either/or Lunch THEN Dinner . Supper is what Charles Ingalls washed up for in Little House on the Prairie. FAct.

Is it a kitchen supper or a fireside supper or a garden supper?

Schools still have dinner hour don't they? We used to have dinner midday ish, tea, then supper. Now we have lunch, dinner's moved to replace tea and supper is hanging on by its middle class thread. And there's a definite north/south evening meal divide. Far more dinners than suppers in the North.

'Sups' is the worst 😭

RIP Patricia Routledge aka Mrs Hyacinth Bucket, we should hold a Candlelit Supper in her memory.

But she knows about second breakfast, right?

It's a posh/umc surrey thing

Dh family all do it.

I'm from more common stock so its lunch at lunch time & your evening meal is tea or dinner if out.

You have lived a very sheltered life. Many of us don't finish work until 6 or later. Then commute and cook etc.

She only had room for a pony, never achieved ownership.

Yes! Frock is a totally necessary word & needs a big comeback.

Well you have lunch at 12/1
dinner at 5/6
and a snack before bed if you’re hungry

why is it such a big deal what she’s calling it

For most of my time at primary school I came home for my midday meal, which was 'dinner', and the main meal of the day. The early evening meal was tea, and was light - a few rashers of bacon or something and a slice of cake. Supper was what my dad had when he came home from work, say about 7.30, and was a full meal.

Then we started having our midday meal at school to reduce the fetching and carrying, and switched to having a substantial meal in the early evening: we children thus now ate supper too, even at 6. And that is what my evening meal has remained.

I should add that we lived in west London, but my mum was from the north. I don't think we were typical of anything, and probably neighbouring families used different words, or the same ones differently deployed.

My mum got some new friends a couple of years ago who called dinner supper so she started saying it too! Bit cringe but I just ignored it!

I don’t know anyone who commutes though. Everyone works from home or local. Certainly no more than 20 minutes drive.

My nephew drives to another city one day a week. Works from home for the rest of it. My niece the same. My other nephew walks 10 minutes to work. Other niece from home.Db 20 mins away, dsil walks to work. I could go on and on.

Dh goes in one day a week. I’ve worked for 35 years. I’ve worked with about 4 people who commuted long distance.

I don’t think l’ve led a particularly sheltered life. I just don’t live in SE.

These are all professional graduate jobs.

If it helps, dinner is called supper in hospital!!!

I live in the North and don’t have a long commute and never have tea before eight. I’d be starving by bedtime if I ate my last meal by 6:30.

Lunch mid day which I don’t usually bother with, dinner or tea evening meal usually dinner. I don’t mix with a supper crowd but if all my friends had called it supper when I was younger I may have too to save confusion. It doesn’t matter

Dinner usually 6.30-7.30

But for me afternoon tea is sandwiches, scones AND little cakes on a tiered stand and quite formal. Tea is a cup of tea and one slice of cake.

I have heard people talk of a "roast tea" .........

At least it's not sups yet. In my husband's family being invited to a 'kitchen supper' is not unusual. Sounds like your sister is affecting it, which is a bit cringe

We have breakfast lunch and dinner but dinner can also be tea if eaten around 5/6pm, possibly even 6.30 but after 7 it's definitely dinner.

Ds likes supper, that's usually teacakes (not suppercakes) at 8pm.

I still get confused if people call lunch dinner but dinnertime is later!

My mum (from Kent, aspirational posh) said supper for a light evening meal like soup/sandwiches. A cooked evening meal was dinner though. Midday meal was lunch whether cooked or not except on Christmas day which was definitely Christmas Dinner.

The only exception was a light evening meal eaten by children before 6pm which she would allow to be called "tea" (Supper was later in the evening apparently). Though "teatime" for adults was a pot of tea and a cake/scone around 4pm.

Foreigners must be so confused with all this faff.

Though my dad would bring us a jam sandwich wrapped in greaseproof paper and a glass of milk as supper while he read our bedtime stories

I love this 😊