Dinner or Tea?

[wurzel]

Do you refer to the meal you have in the evening as dinner or tea?

I've always called it dinner. It's not a snobbery thing it's just that when I've spent hours slaving over a stove putting together a gourmet feast with all the trimmings for someone to say "thanks for tea" just doesn't seem to do it justice somehow. Especially not when it's served at 8pm.

[Moscow Mule]

Prior to 6pm = Tea
After 6pm = Dinner

In our house anyway.

[Mich the Tester]

If you've put some effort into it, dinner. Otherwise just 'evening meal' and some people would call it supper. Tea's a hot drink.

[Alf W]

Here is the answer as written by Kate Fox in her exquisite book "Watching the English" published by Hodder 2004.

What do you call the evening meal?

And what time do you eat it?

If you call it "tea", and eat it at around half past six, you are almost certainly working class or of working class origin. (If you have a tendency to personalize the meal, calling it "my tea", "our/us tea" and "your tea" - as in "I must be going home for my tea", "what's for us tea, love?" or "Come back to mine for your tea" - you are probably northern working class.)

If you call the evening meal "dinner", and eat it at around seven o'clock, you are probably lower-middle or middle-middle class.

If you normally only use the term "dinner" for rather more formal evening meals, and call your informal, family evening meal "supper" (pronounced "suppah"), you are probably upper-middle or upper class. The timing of these meals tends to be more flexible, but a family "supper" is generally eaten at around half past seven, while a "dinner" would usually be later, from half past eight onwards.

My grandmother always used to insist that "Tea" was what people in council houses had. She was a bit of a snob though.

[HairyArsedBloke]

If you normally only use the term "dinner" for rather more formal evening meals, and call your informal, family evening meal "supper" (pronounced "suppah"), you are probably upper-middle or upper class. The timing of these meals tends to be more flexible, but a family "supper" is generally eaten at around half past seven, while a "dinner" would usually be later, from half past eight onwards.

I was going to post something like that earlier.

[Pondlife]

What do you want for tea or shall we go out for dinner?

Is the usual in chez pondlife.

[Board Game Geek]

Dinner at Chez BGG's.

[Zippy]

If it involves chips it's called tea.
If I've cooked it it's called dinner.

[moorfield]

Prior to 6pm = Tea
After 6pm = Dinner

In our house anyway.

Southerners = Dinner

Northerners = Tea

[EternalOptimist]

dinner = lunch
tea is the evening meal.


breakfast elevenses dinner tea supper