BS: Supper or Dinner?

Subject: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Peace
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:55 AM

Which is it for you?

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: freda underhill
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:56 AM

dinner.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Blissfully Ignorant
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:58 AM

Both, with generous portions, several times a day...

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 01:14 AM

What BI said.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: mg
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 01:46 AM

supper. Dinner is for people with matching silverware I think. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: dianavan
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 01:53 AM

A little supper or a big dinner.

I will digress and tell you about the most embarassing moment of my life.

When it was time for my mother to breast feed the hungry baby, she would always say, "Time for dinner."

My brother and I thought that was the name for breasts.

Once when I was showing off for friends at about age 10 or 11, I mentioned that someone had big dinners - Oh .......the laughter. I was mortified.

(I think I may have told this story before) If so, forgive. I am still traumatized by the event.

d

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 03:45 AM

I'll take both thanks... for starters

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: chris nightbird childs
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 03:48 AM

It used to be Supper at my mum's house. It's dinner here.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Metchosin
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 04:25 AM

When I was kid it was always referred to as supper, or at least when we ate at home and it wasn't a special occasion, but I don't think I have called it anything but dinner in the past 30 years or so and I have no idea why the change.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Scooby Doo
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 04:38 AM

I have Dinner at 6.30 and supper about 10.00.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: MBSLynne
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 07:59 AM

In my childhood, supper was something light you ate before you went to bed. Dinner was the main meal of the day, whether served at tea-time or lunch-time. Tea was a lighter meal in the late afternoon if you'd had dinner at lunch-time. Lunch was a lighter meal in the middle of the day if you were having dinner at tea-time. Er.......is that clear...?

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: bbc
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 08:23 AM

Dinner, for us, was usually the pm meal. On Sundays, the main meal was in the middle of the day & we called that dinner & the lighter pm meal was supper. So, I guess the amount of food & the fanciness of the meal determined the name.

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Bobert
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 08:30 AM

Well, all I know is in the South (US) dinner is lunch and supper is the evening meal...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: ThreeSheds
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 08:31 AM

Breakfast dinner and tea are my main meals, supper is an optional light snack before bed

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 08:43 AM

Breakfast....Elevenses....Lunch.....Afternoon Tea......High Tea (Scotland)......Dinner......Supper

Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 10:35 AM

Growing up in Illinois it was breakfast, dinner, and supper. In between it was whatever you had handy to eat.

Then I got married and it became breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In between were snacks.

Now, in the West, it's breakfast, dinner, and supper OR breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm not supposed to eat between meals.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 10:40 AM

What Giok said.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 11:03 AM

What Bobert said, except in rural Texas. In cities the words seemed interchangable.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:02 PM

Synonyms, to my houses. Both are the evening meal. I think we usually say What's for dinner rather than what's for supper, and when it's ready, we say Soup's on.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Snuffy
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:36 PM

I'm with Scooby Doo and Three Sheds - Breakfast dinner and tea for main meals, and supper a snack an hour or so before bed. Lunch was what I took to school to eat with my 11 o'clock bottle of milk.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Peace
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:43 PM

What's high tea?

(It was always supper to me. For some reason I always thought that dinner was 'fancy' and supper was a big meal falling somewhere near the hour my mom got home from work. In short, dinner was what ya had at someone else's house where ya had to mind yer p's and q's and yer elbow on the table--which ya had to mind at home or ya got a fork in the arm and all ya got at someone else's house was a glare that was followed by a clip across the head at the earliest opportunity when no one was looking, but sometimes the adults forgot, especially if ya didn't talk outta turn and said thanks without burping.)

Is high tea a meal?

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: artbrooks
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:49 PM

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner can come in midafternoon when you're feeling fancy, like on American Thanksgiving. Then the evening meal is called "are you really hungry again?"

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: jaze
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 12:55 PM

When I was a kid it was supper. Now it's dinner. I don't know why. Other changes from childhood: parlor=living room, cellar=basement,couch=sofa.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 01:09 PM

A somewhat tongue in cheek description of High Tea
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 01:10 PM

Dinner - my silverware matches.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 02:13 PM

In the tradional South and Southwest, I never had lunch except at school. In fact, school may be responsible for the popularity of the word.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: *Laura*
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 02:39 PM

supper. or tea.
but not dinner.
unless it's going to a dinner party. (my grandparents are posh - but they still say supper when it's just regular tea. hehe)

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 02:40 PM

I've always thought that noontime 'dinner' as the biggest meal came from when more people lived on farms. I know that when I was a kid, the men came in from the fields, my mother served a large meal, and the men sat around dozing for an hour after dinner before they returned to the fields.

During the school year, we kids had 'hot lunch', which was also a large meal in the middle of the day.

Supper was light, and was hot or cold depending upon the season.

It just occurred to me to wonder why and when the US abandoned the concept of 'tea'. And it sounds like Canada also lost it along the way. Why is this?

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: mg
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 03:45 PM

Probably from other groups of immigrants who didn't have that tradition. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 04:23 PM

I'm jealous of you Brits, for having so many different meals per day!

I was brought up to be *aware* of the older tradition, where "dinner" was the main meal, taken at midday, and "supper" was a lighter evening meal. However (not being farmers), we ate our main meal in the early evening, after school and work, and used *both* terms interchangeably for it.

I think we generally called it "supper" when we ate in the kitchen, as usual, and were more likely to use the term "dinner" for the bigger, more formal evening meals we ate in the dining room. But we (us kids, at any rate) were not highly consious of the distinction and were as likely to use one word as the other at any time.

When we were hungry, we'd ask either "What's for supper?" or "What's for dinner?" with *no* regard for which would be more proper. Our parents didn't emphasize the distinction, and we kids cared even less to split hairs.

I think we always referred to the gathering of family around the meal as being "at the dinner table" (never the "supper table"), whether it was the kitchen table or the other. ("Don't talk like that at the dinner table!")

On *some* Sundays and of course on the big pig-out holidays, we'd go too grandma's house (or in later years stay at our house) for a big mid-day meal *always* called "Dinner." Afterwards, because we'd already had dinner, whatever we ate that evening was always and unambiguously referred to as "supper."

Whenever we ate one of those special-occasion big festive midday dinners, we were pretty sure to hear (again) all about how our farming forebearers always had a big midday dinner, that was when people had a REAL dinner, yadda yadda yadda.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Peace
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 04:30 PM

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French souper, from souper to sup -- more at SUP
1 a : the evening meal especially when dinner is taken at midday b : a social affair featuring a supper; especially : an evening social especially for raising funds
2 : the food served as a supper
3 : a light meal served late in the evening


Etymology: Middle English diner, from Old French, from diner to dine
1 a : the principal meal of the day b : a formal feast or banquet
2 : TABLE D'hôte 2
3 : the food prepared for a dinner
4 : a packaged meal usually for quick preparation

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Joybell
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 04:45 PM

Tea. That is until I set up with an American. He insists that tea is what you drink, maybe with cucumber sandwiches. So for him I call it dinner - to the rest of us Auzzies it's tea. Cheery-bye, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: freda underhill
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 04:56 PM

true, Joybell, its always tea here.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: GUEST,Ogden
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 05:37 PM

The Duck
Behold the duck.
It does not cluck.
A cluck it lacks.
It quacks.
It is specially fond
Of a puddle or a pond.
When it dines or sups,
It bottom ups.

Ogden Nas

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Nov 04 - 05:53 PM

Dinner is the name for the main meal of the day, which can be in the middel of the day, or it can be in the evening. If your dinner is in the evening, the midday meal is lunch, and it's not such a substantial meal.

In England anyway, it used to be that, if you had dinner at midday or so, the evening meal would be high tea, with perhaps a bit of supper later on before going to bed.

But these days shared meals as such are quite likely to be replaced by grazing.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: jaze
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 10:08 AM

What types of food do you have at tea or high tea? I always imagine things like scones or cucumber sandwiches.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 07:02 PM

High tea would be cold meat and pickle and bread, and stuff like that. Maybe cake. A sort of sit down buffet.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 07:12 PM

Growing up in country NSW we had breakfast - dinner - tea. Supper was the bikky and drink you had between tea and going to bed. Now Himself and I are fraffly posh and we have breakfast - morning tea - lunch - afternoon tea - dinner.
An aside: when I was at school our mid-morning break was called "play lunch" until we went to high school, then it was "recess". When my children went to school "play lunch" had been replaced by "little lunch" and lunchtime became "big lunch"!

Cheers
JennieG who sa far today has had breakfast and morning tea......

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 07:21 PM

Here's a page about tea and high tea and so forth - british tea drinking customs

"Little lunch" - that'd be "elevenses".

Subject: Supper or Dinner?
From: GUEST,AKgrown
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 07:48 PM

It's called dinner here. We don't have supper, which is kind of a bummer because food is awesome. = ) Anyway, I think elevenses is one of the neatest words to be invented for a meal.

AKswimmer

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 07:53 PM

It always used to be School Dinners. Do they really have "Lunch" these days?

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: GUEST,AKgrown
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 08:04 PM

I don't know about where you live, but here in Alaska, it's always been Lunch. At least, as long as I've gone to school.

AKswimmer

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: frogprince
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 08:50 PM

Growing up in Minnesota we had dinner at noon and supper about 6pm. Now we eat dinner at suppertime, except for Christmas and Thanksgiving when we have dinner sometime a little after noon. I'm still confused; I guess it's what I get for marrying above my class.

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 08:59 PM

"fraffly posh"????

Does that mean "rich enough not to have to go to work," so you can sit down to five meals a day?

If you're working 9 to 5, morning and afternoon tea would be at-work breaks -- what we in the US call coffee breaks. Maybe that's what your teas are -- ??

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 09:25 PM

Geez PoppaGator - I wish I was rich enough not to have to go to work!! I like my job but would love not to have to work. One day.......(she says dreamily) I will be able to stay home all day and eat. And sew. And make music.

Morning and afternoon tea is usually just a coffee. Nothing to eat unless I am feeling in dire need of a little sugar/chocolate hit, otherwise I would be the size of a small house. But growing up my mother always had her 'morning tea' or 'afternoon tea' and I have kept it up. However my mother couldn't stand coffee so her morning tea was tea, and I drink coffee not tea but I still have morning tea.

I think I'd better stop before I confuse myself.

Cheers
JennieG who has just finished lunch, it's 1.23pm here in Sydney Oz, and I don't work on Mondays!

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Jeanie
Date: 22 Nov 04 - 04:52 AM

The almost infinite variations and combinations of names for mealtimes, depending on location/class/content of meal must be one of the most difficult things for foreign learners of English to understand !

In England, for most social classes, "supper" used to be a snack you had before going to bed (e.g. biscuits and a cup of tea). I think it may have always meant something different to the upper classes (i.e. a light evening meal), but now the word seems to have gone down the social scale and to have become an *aspirational* word. I've noticed it seems to have become quite a trend around these 'ere parts of Essex for more people to use it for the evening meal, either when inviting someone to their house or for going out to eat, e.g. "Would you like to come over to us for supper on Tuesday ?" I can see why it has become so popular. "Supper" has come to mean a substantial but reasonably cheap evening meal from the chiller cabinet at Marks & Spencer, Waitrose et al, with french bread and wine thrown in. Or a meal out at somewhere like Cafe Rouge or Cafe Uno or Pizza Express (but not Pizza Hut !) Something slightly (but not much) more upmarket than what the people would be eating if they were alone at home (and most likely calling it "tea"). A little treat but without totally breaking the bank or your neck, in preparing it.

Invitations to "dinner" are another matter. The stuff may well STILL come ready from Waitrose, but from the top end of the price range, and you spend a while cunningly disguising it and make the table look a bit more posh and with more expensive wine.

Just my lovingly tongue-in-cheek observations of this geographical/social locale ;)

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 22 Nov 04 - 05:39 AM

What was on Maundy Thursday, Last Dinner or Last Supper?

But I don't care as long it's FOOD!

Subject: RE: BS: Supper or Dinner?
From: Jeanie
Date: 22 Nov 04 - 06:03 AM

Good one, Wilfried ! Bread + wine...gotta be an Essex-style Supper, as I described above, I would say ;)

At the risk of offending people, I must stress that I am about to quote a joke I heard on TV from Billy Connolly's programme at the weekend. Look away now if you don't want to read it:

Have you heard that in these health-conscious days and along with Government guidelines, the Church of England has brought out a Diet Communion ? It's called "I can't believe it's not Jesus."

(for those not in UK, there is a low-fat margarine with the brand name "I can't believe it's not butter").

I love the subtle and ever-changing class distinctions that exist in English language and social practices, like the supper/dinner/tea thing. I remember reading a very funny book of social observations by Jilly Cooper. She says that England is divided into two classes, 'The Haves' and the 'Have Nets'. Net Curtains: the great social divide. Likewise, those who show you round every room in their house, the first time you visit them, and those who would think that practice to be decidedly odd. Does anyone have any more suggestions for these ?

- jeanie ;)