So.... when's dinner?

[Jayelle]

What time of the day does "Dinner" take place?

[neo-dragon]

In the evening, of course. Is this some kind of trick question?

[Gravity Defier]

I've heard some people call lunch dinner and dinner supper. It's wrong, of course, but I've heard it that way.

Dinner is the evening meal.

[waffleman]

100% supper ( 5 votes)

So whats the point of this survey?

[neo-dragon]

Yeah, I guess it's over since all 5 members have voted... Oh wait...

[Jebus]

On Sundays it takes place at lunch time. Though lunch time is moved up to about 4 PM, so things get weird.

Every other day it's an evening occasion.

[Wil]

Breakfast to me is now break-fast, and it's not necessarily traditional breakfast food. For example, today I didn't eat until 6pm, and I had hamburgers sans bun. This pushes my entire schedule back such that I can't really call my second meal lunch, because it'll be around 10pm before I eat again.

Normally, though, lunch is second meal that is sometime between 11am and 3pm, and dinner is the third meal that is sometime between 3pm and 8pm.

[Rei]

On Sundays it takes place at lunch time. Though lunch time is moved up to about 4 PM, so things get weird.

Every other day it's an evening occasion.

This is true of my extended family, except instead of Sundays, it's Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Also, it's with complaining from my immediate family that we have to eat so early. Since we host it, now, we tend to bump it all the way to 5pm (instead of where it used to be at 3pm).

So I voted for evening.

[Luet]

I think the only time I've heard the noontime meal called dinner (and nighttime meal, supper) was in the Little House books. We call the meal at night dinner. I actually thought this thread was going to ask what TIME at night do we eat dinner.

[Rei]

Out of curiosity, Jan, is this thread prompted by some absurd practice in Newfoundland?

[Jayelle]

Out of curiosity, Jan, is this thread prompted by some absurd practice in Newfoundland?

Basically, yes. People seem to refer to lunch as dinner here. It's not the first time I've heard it, so I wondered if it was a regional thing.

To me supper and dinner are exactly the same.

[Eaquae Legit]

I've seen "dinner" used to mean lunch in British books. Probably because supper is "tea", or something. In my world, there's breakfast, lunch, and dinner/supper. If I have tea, it's a light afternoon snack, but I don't usually call it anything other than a snack.

[Jayelle]

100% supper ( 5 votes)

So whats the point of this survey?

Some of us use pweb to settle debates.

[Syphon the Sun]

I actually had this argument not long ago with my fellow classmates. I believe the three meals go: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They argued that the meals go: breakfast, dinner, and supper.

After heated debate and substantial research, we concluded that dinner has always meant the "main meal." As the timing of the main meal has shifted from midday to evening, so has what actually constitutes "dinner." Old naming habits die hard, though, and supper still means "last meal of the day," so you'll catch the breakfast/dinner/supper terms used with frequency in some areas.

[Rei]

Yes, 'dinner' pretty much always means the main meal wherever you go. I've never heard of it being used for another meal. I still think it odd to have that in the middle of the day. But then, I take breakfast fairly late in the day, especially when I'm not working, and work seldom supplies a long enough break in the afternoon to have a main meal then.

[zeroguy]

psh, missing option: there is no dinner!

only zuul

[Mich]

psh, missing option: there is no dinner!

only zuul

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

[Bean_wannabe]

Went for 'some other time' because it depends. Dinner is the main (hot) meal out of lunch and tea.

[Eaquae Legit]

Dinner is.... NOW! Mmmm food my tummy.

[jotabe]

When i was studying in the UK, there was:
-breakfast, that is, first meal in the day, around 7-9 am, mid-heavy
-lunch, between noon and 1pm, mid-light meal
-dinner, between 5-7pm, mid-heavy
-supper, between 10-12pm, light (only the very hungry would do this, i just couldn't stomach food so close to bed time).

Nevertheless, from what i gathered is that dinner is always the "main" meal, the meal you have with family and do the main conversation of the day. In this case, in Spain we really have 2 dinners, afternoon (lunch) and evening (supper).

I think.

[Rei]

Went for 'some other time' because it depends. Dinner is the main (hot) meal out of lunch and tea.

I'm still not used to people saying they're going to eat their tea.

[Bean_wannabe]

*Dons monocle*

You mean to tell me that you are unfamiliar with the concept of afternoon tea, old boy?

[locke]

supper is at night, dinner is for sundays.

[Gravity Defier]

supper is at night, dinner is for sundays.

How was this determined? Is dinner earlier on Sundays, somehow more special on Sundays?

[locke]

by the fact that all Monday-Friday evening meals are referred to as supper and Sunday non-breakfast meals are referred to as Dinner.

Interesting corollary, in restaurants you have dinner, never supper if it is an evening meal, and lunch or brunch but never dinner if it is a midday meal.

Dinner is more of a formal/informal distinction than a noun that can be used in certain time of day contexts to describe a certain meal. For example, Chinese take out or pizza on Sunday for a non-breakfast meal would not be Dinner.

[Gravity Defier]

That's lovely, Adam, but where in the hell are you getting this info? In other words, says who?

[Luet]

Says Adam. In other words, he's talking out of his ass.

[steph]

I think Adam's reasoning must be a mid-west thing. I don't use the logic, but it sounds like what I would expect out of prairie settlers from back in the day that has carried on until present day.

[mr_thebrain]

it's definitely about where you come from. supper is more of a southern states term, but it can be used anywhere.

they are NOT interchangeable terms.

I remember growing up and hearing my grandfather use them as such: dinner=lunch, supper=evening meal.

supper can never be lunch, but depending on what region you're in, dinner can be supper.