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?

The problem with the word dinner is that it moves around. I'm sick of explaining that the TV series dinner ladies proves that dinner must be at middle of the day. Here down south I say it's dinner time and I get told it's lunch time. Tea also has too many meanings, like people claim I'm having a drink of tea not a meal. So perhaps to avoid all this confusion supper is the way to go if we don't want to resort to saying 'evening meal is ready'.

Having read all your updates concerning golf, nicknames and the Executive Home, @TheFateofOphelia, I'm convinced your sister's Margo Leadbetter ...

Some things have changed a lot less than we might have hoped in 1978!

I’m in Ireland and say breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most Irish people I know say similar these days, as they’re out at work/school during the day so the main meal is usually in the evening.

On occasions when the main meal is in the middle of the day (eg Sundays, holidays) the lighter evening meal is called supper, in my house at least. This isn’t a recent thing as my grandparents said supper for the lighter evening meal too. It wasn’t as occasional for them though. They usually had breakfast, dinner and supper as they’d a different lifestyle (farming).

Were I live in Scotland it's called supper when I lived in England it was called tea

If you lived in the States for several years than you would know it's breakfast, lunch and then dinner or also called supper. So you should be used to it 🙄

@TheFateofOphelia I take Luncheon

Haven’t even RTFT - just the title and I came on to say “has she moved to Surrey?”

DB moved there from Yorkshire a couple of decades ago and immediately stopped having his tea and started having supper, and it wasn’t a bowl of cereal at bedtime.

He no longer has a living room but a sitting room.

Some time before high tea...

Is the sitting room in the same wing as the drawing room and parlour?

I knew someone Welsh who used to say ' come for food '.

I too switched from living to sitting room. I think it’s a having more than one reception room thing. Bought a bigger house and the play room was for the kids, the sitting room is for sitting ( not bouncing on sofas and bringing in toys).

@Mustreadabook if we don't want to resort to saying 'evening meal is ready'.

Easily solved by ‘grub’s up!’

I had a boyfriend when younger who used to talk about his “ grub”. Really put me off him as I visualised maggotty grubs every time he used the word. Anything is better than “ grub”

😆😆😆👍

If you lived in the States for several years than you would know it's breakfast, lunch and then dinner or also called supper. So you should be used to it 🙄

Don't know why you're rolling your eyes but I never heard an American call it supper. Ever. Admittedly, I didn't meet all 340 million of 'em ....

I'd say, 'Shall we meet for a coffee?' even though the person may only drink tea. And they would understand that, and decide for themselves whether they wanted cake.

It's within the realm of possibility that I might ask someone to go for afternoon tea, but that would have to involve finger sandwiches without the crusts and scones as well as cake. That would be the understanding.

A cup of tea and a slice of cake that I eat alone at around 3.30pm would be called 'a cup of tea and a slice of cake'. Though I never would, because eating at that time would ruin my tea.

My husband is from the south and pretends he doesn't know what I mean when I say, 'What do you fancy for tea?'. Or sometimes he will ask if I mean dinner.

I tell him he is DESICCATING me with his pedantry.

Before blocking her, you must first post cryptic messages about your feelings of betrayal. You can of course follow up with private messages to 152 of your closest huns to provide details so they can block her too. Shocking behaviour. Next she'll be looking to move to somewhere with room for a pony.

When we were small in the SE we had school dinners, the main meal of the day and tea at 6, the last meal of the day. Many people went home as they worked local and the break was for an hour.
Now times have changed lunch being in work time, with no one being able to make it home and dinner in the evenings when everyone has arrived home after their commute.
While visiting a friend in the NW I went to the hairdresser’s at 7 o’ clock in the evening and as I was having my hair washed, I was asked if I had had my tea, to which I replied, no I had had the coffee which they had offered me.

I always aspired to “kitchen sups” during my Jilly Cooper reading days 🙄

I grew up saying breakfast, dinner and tea, but since meeting my husband 20+ years ago I now say breakfast, lunch and dinner…. The betrayal.
I still occasionally say tea and my son looks at me like some sort of mystical being 🤣

My ex and his family are Irish.
the light tea thing isn’t just a farming thing.
sandwiches and cakes were served in his nanny’s house at 5pm daily.

My MIL calls her evening meal tea because she has a hot meal (dinner) at midday. She has her lighter meal (tea) very early 4.30/5ish so doesn't need tea and cake mid afternoon. That's what they did when my DH was a child and his dad worked 8-4.
We do it the other way round most days because of work and school. Dinner is later so we may have a cup of tea and a biscuit or cake mid afternoon but wouldn't call it a meal unless we were going out for 'afternoon tea' with scones, cakes etc. I'm not really keen on that though because you need to eat less lunch and dinner in order to have room for it!

Rainydayinlondon · Yesterday 17:32
Question for Those who call their evening meal “tea”:
What do you call the tea and a slice of cake meal that is eaten at 3.30 ish?
And if you’re meeting friends for tea (meaning tea and cake), how do they know what you’re suggesting?

l don’t know anyone who has tea and cake at 3:30 pm.
We meet for coffee not tea

🤣🤣🤣👍

Sometimes