# What Do You Call the Afternoon and Evening Meals **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781 "2010-04-20T19:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/41 "2010-04-21T09:27:12Z")
Wigan, England: midday meal is dinner, evening meal is tea. This is true for most of the north of England and large parts of Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/42 "2010-04-21T11:45:50Z")
You are disconcertingly local, **Capt. Ridley’s Shooting Party**! And I agree that the evening meal is always tea, but meal-at-noon has always been lunch to me. I think I’m in the minority there, though. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/43 "2010-04-21T11:55:35Z")
Ding! Ding! Ding! Vittles on! ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/44 "2010-04-21T12:02:57Z")
“Slops!” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/45 "2010-04-21T12:21:52Z")
Midday meal is generally _lunch_, unless it’s in any way formal or communal, or if it’s at school, then it might be _dinner_. Evening meal is generally _dinner_, unless it’s a light meal in late afternoon, in which case it might be _tea_ (esp sandwiches and/or cakes), or unless it’s later in the evening, in which case it might be \*supper \*(esp if it’s simple and/or tending toward the indulgent). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/46 "2010-04-21T12:33:47Z")
Hebrew is so much simpler - we eat “noon meal” and “evening meal”. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/47 "2010-04-21T15:52:33Z")
I’ve never heard of the noon meal being called dinner. Been in Virginia all my life, born in 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/48 "2010-04-21T16:02:17Z")
Noon is lunch. Evening is dinner or supper. I don’t care. I’ll look at you funny if you use dinner or supper instead of lunch. If someone invited me for dinner and called it “tea” I’d assume they were trying to be funny by acting like a gay Brit. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/49 "2010-04-21T17:03:18Z")
Good question - growing up in Illinois as a kid, it was called supper. However, since moving way, I have stopped using that term and call it dinner - not consciously (as I discovered thinking about it, due to this thread) but I guess it must be more of a regional thing that I just adapted. Same with drinking a bottle of “pop” that I used to say in Illinois - but now say “soda”. I guess it depends on where you live and what the majority say - but both “supper” and “pop” have disappeared from my vocabulary, but it was never a conscious thing - just sort of happened over time. ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/50 "2010-04-21T17:18:28Z")
Growing up in Midwest farm country 30-40 years ago, lunch was a snack served to farm workers at mid-morning and -afternoon; dinner was at noon and supper was the evenng meal. Now, for me lunch is the mid-day meal, dinner usually means going out or having guests over for a big or special meal, but supper is our typical family meal at home in the evening. I don’t claim it makes sense, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/51 "2010-04-21T19:56:35Z")
We have lunch and supper. Dinner has always been a formal meal regardless of afternoon or evening. Formal as in people other than regular family, or a special meal (holiday, birthday) commemorating something. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/52 "2010-04-21T20:01:52Z")
For those of you that say a noonish meal is alway lunch, what do you call it when you have your big Thanksgiving or Christmas meal in the middle of the day? Is it still Thankgiving lunch? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/53 "2010-04-21T20:08:33Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > For those of you that say a noonish meal is alway lunch, what do you call it when you have your big Thanksgiving or Christmas meal in the middle of the day? > > Is it still Thankgiving lunch? Thanksgiving Dinner. As others have said, “Dinner” is a slightly more formal event. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/54 "2010-04-22T07:29:37Z")
Mid-day meal has always been _lunch_. Nighttime meal is _dinner_. \*Supper \*would be interchangeable with dinner, though no one here uses that term. Though I’m used to having dinner anywhere between 10pm-midnight, and lunch at 3-4pm. When I was younger, lunch at school would be noon-ish, dinner at 9-10pm, and if I had a meal after school around 3-4pm, it would just be called “something to eat.” \*Brunch \*is for weekends when you go out to a restaurant to eat at around 11am-1pm and can get breakfast foods. > [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > For those of you that say a noonish meal is alway lunch, what do you call it when you have your big Thanksgiving or Christmas meal in the middle of the day? > > Is it still Thankgiving lunch? Thanksgiving turkey at _noon_!? It’s always been in the 4pm-7pm range in my family. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/55 "2010-04-22T08:30:17Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > For those of you that say a noonish meal is alway lunch, what do you call it when you have your big Thanksgiving or Christmas meal in the middle of the day? > > Is it still Thankgiving lunch? Dinner if it’s formal, communal or institutional. Lunch if it’s just the midday meal. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/56 "2010-04-22T10:53:17Z")
> [@wolf-alice](#): > > You are disconcertingly local, **Capt. Ridley’s Shooting Party**! Really? Where are you? There’s a few of us from around the Wigan area on here. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/57 "2010-04-22T15:44:53Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Lunch is always at noon/afternoon > Supper is always in the evening. > Dinner is a main meal, and can been noon or evening. > > So normally, I have lunch and dinner. If I’m having a bunch of people over for a large meal on Sunday afternoon, then we have dinner and supper. This is exactly what I was going to say. On Sundays and special occasions and holidays, dinner is at lunchtime. On other days, dinner is at suppertime. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/58 "2010-04-22T20:30:19Z")
When you’re a kid, you have school dinners. Otherwise it’s always lunch, including formal occasions or meals out. Unless it’s the first thing you ate that day, in which case it’s brunch. When I’m at home (with my partner, a Northerner, and me, who spent years in the North and seems to go for Northern SOs), the evening meal is tea. When I’m with my parents, that’s a cup of tea and cake/crumpets/whatever in the late afternoon/early evening, and the evening meal is supper. Unless it’s eaten out, in which case it’s dinner. Breakfast is always breakfast. Except when it’s brunch. (Whoever said that calling the evening meal “tea” makes them think of “funny gay Brits”, there are pitsful of miners and docksful of dockers, among others, who’d like a word with you…) ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/59 "2010-04-22T20:45:49Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > For those of you that say a noonish meal is alway lunch, what do you call it when you have your big Thanksgiving or Christmas meal in the middle of the day? > > Is it still Thankgiving lunch? Ours is around 1 or 2 pm, and is Thanksgiving dinner. But that’s a tradition inherited from the same grandparents who always called lunch “dinner”. I thought “tea” was a snack between lunch and dinner. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781/60 "2010-04-22T21:07:41Z")
People who thnk the noontime meal is always “dinner” are the same people who think that the stuff that you _stuff_ inside a turkey is called “dressing”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-the-afternoon-and-evening-meals/536781.md?page=4)