# Dinner vs. Supper **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 28, 2000, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095 "2000-11-28T22:35:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AmyJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@AmyJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmyJohn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/1 "2000-11-28T22:35:58Z")
The use of these two terms has caused a large amount of confusion in my family. It never fails that when someone says “dinner” at least one person will consider this to mean “lunch” (mid-day meal) and another will consider it to mean “supper” (night-time meal). I just say I’m going to eat. (I’m just glad that we don’t have anything more serious to quibble over.) So–what meal is dinner? ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/2 "2000-11-28T22:47:21Z")
“Dinner” is the main meal of the day, regardless of what time it’s eaten. “Supper” is the evening meal. I’d say 75% of the people I work with call lunch “dinner.” It throws me off everytime - I always figured “dinner” was the evening meal. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/3 "2000-11-28T22:49:13Z")
From [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary): _ **Dinner** _ - 1a) the principal meal of the day. 1b) a formal feast or banquet. _ **Supper** _ - 1. the evening meal especially when dinner is taken at midday. 2. light meal served late in the evening. Sooooo, the answer is … dinner is the **big** one; the time of day has nothing to do with dinner. ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/4 "2000-11-28T22:50:13Z")
Well in my family dinner is an evening meal. Supper means a late lunch, mid-afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/5 "2000-11-28T22:50:24Z")
Drives my kids crazy, but I grew up in Virginia so their lunch is my dinner and their dinner is my supper. And “car” rhymes with “core” and “pen” with “pin.” When most people say their kids don’t understand them, they aren’t so literal. ---
**Author:** ![AmyJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@AmyJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmyJohn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/6 "2000-11-28T22:58:23Z")
How did I know someone was going to trot out a dictionary? That’s just no fun . . . ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/7 "2000-11-28T23:05:49Z")
This is causing confusion in our house. I call the evening meal “dinner” because when I was growing up we had our main meal in the evening. However, my daughter’s babysitter calls her midday meal dinner, because in the Azores where she was born, they ate their big meal at noon–something she still does, even after living in America for 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/8 "2000-11-29T02:12:45Z")
I grew up a Yankee, where dinner was the main meal, eaten at night. Around 6PM. Dinnertime. Now that I have migrated south, dinner is in the afternoon, and supper is dinner, no, wait, supper is in the afternoon and dinner is supper, no, that’s not right, supper is dinner and…oh screw it. Now I’m hungry. Where’s my supner? ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/9 "2000-11-29T02:19:35Z")
Back home: “Dinner” was the evening meal. “Supper” was a word we heard only on “Mayberry RFD” and “The Beverly Hillbillies”. Down here: Interchangable for the evening meal, but mostly “dinner”. “Lunch” is the noon meal. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/10 "2000-11-29T02:50:51Z")
Well, in _my_ household, we **break our fast** at approximately eight, or half-past…eggs, kippers, sausage, kedgeree, gammon, and broiled kidneys are served out from the chafing dishes. At **“elevenses,”** we have a cup of strong consumme with toast, and perhaps a savoury. **Luncheon** at one. **High tea,** with cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, and a variety of cakes, at four. At seven, we go up to dress for **dinner,** which is served at eight. Cocktails (or dry sherry), soup, a fish dish, game, a roast, salad, and cheese. Wines to match each course. A sweet. Brandy and cigars after. After the theater, Cook lays out a light **supper** around eleven. Lobster, eggs and bacon, a cold roasted duck, toasted cheese. A glass or two of bitter beer. Then we have twelve or fourteen Tums, and off to bed. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/11 "2000-11-29T02:55:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > **Well, in _my_ household,…** Well, fiddle-dee-dee. C’mon over & have grits and cold pizza for breakfast. What’n the pluperfect are ‘kedgeree’ and ‘gammon’? ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/12 "2000-11-29T02:59:04Z")
I try to avoid the term dinner, as it just causes confusion. However, when I do use it, I usually refer to our evening meal, as that is the main meal in our home. ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/13 "2000-11-29T03:14:27Z")
Ike? Could you send me your address? I need to visit…um… wherever it is you live, and I’m sure you won’t mind putting me up for a few weeks. OK??? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/14 "2000-11-29T06:06:08Z")
I get other people confused all the time, because for me, the meals of the day are breakfast, lunch, and supper, but where I worked (dining room) it was breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So I use either one interchangibly now, totally depending on the context of the sentence I’m saying (work-related or not - usually clear to me, but not always to others) and some people have complained about my inconsistency! ---
**Author:** ![AmyJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@AmyJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmyJohn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/15 "2000-11-29T06:20:17Z")
Yeah Ike . . . hey, can I loiter . . . uh, I mean mooch . . . sorry, erm, visit you too? ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/16 "2000-11-29T13:13:38Z")
As noted above, “dinner” is the main meal of the day, and “supper” follows it, some time later. This is big in the south. My Gramma is from Kentucky via West Virginia (no jokes please) and now resides in North Carolina. She makes a distinction between the two, though Lord only knows why. Right after breakfast (eggs, grits, fried potatoes [don’t you dare call them hash browns], biscuits-n-gravy, sausage, bacon, and ham) she puts a roast on the counter to thaw. “What else do you wan’t for dinner?” she asks, making out stomachs want to explode. When we finally finish dinner (around 3:00) we clean up and IMMEDIATELY pull everything back out to have supper on the leftovers (all that cleaning makes one hungry). But I digress. The point I wanted to make was that “supper” comes from the idea that you had some leftovers, usually gravy, bread, things of that nature, and you would sup the leftovers, dip bread in gravy, etc. Hence, “supper” must come after “dinner”. To have supper before dinner is quite impossible; to consider doing so would ensure that madcap zaniness would ensue (we’re talkin’ cats and dogs sleeping together, total anarchy). Hence the total hilarity of the tune “Old Dan Tucker”, with lyrics to wit: Get out the way for old Dan Tucker; He’s too late to get his supper. Supper’s over and dinner is cookin’. Old Dan Tucker just stands there lookin’. [sorry if I posted copywrited material!] Se non e vero, e ben trovato. Hungrily, Spritle ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/17 "2000-11-29T13:28:45Z")
At my house, we always have lunch around midday and use “supper” and “dinner” interchangably for the evening meal. I’d say, though, that uses of the word “dinner” outnumber “supper” about 2 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![Sn-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sn-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sn-man)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/18 "2000-11-29T13:38:37Z")
I our family, dinner always meant a formal meal, what ever the time, tablecloth, salad forks, cloth napkins, etc… Now supper, that’s where everyone sat in the kitchen, relaxed, place mats and plastic cups. Dinner is nice, but I prefer supper. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/19 "2000-11-29T14:25:34Z")
> [@](#): > > [sup]screech-owl[/sup] > What’n the pluperfect are ‘kedgeree’ and ‘gammon’? _Gammon_ is cured pork, somewhere between bacon and ham. _Kedgeree_ is a strange English dish adapted from Indian rice/ lentil/ onion combinations. The English breakfast version adds smoked fish, boiled eggs and a smokey cream sauce. Sounds weird, but it’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095/20 "2000-11-29T14:37:34Z")
We use the terms lunch for the main meal and supper for the evening meal. I suspect that is partially due to the fact that I come from a part of the world that does not put a lot of truck on formality and ritual. Keith [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-vs-supper/43095.md?page=2)