This is a fascinating topic that has caused some intergenerational conflict in my family. I say breakfast, lunch, dinner. My parents say breakfast, lunch, supper. Really I am fine with supper or dinner because I grew up with either term. My parents are both from Ohio though we moved around to different regions as I grew up. My children feel the need to correct my mom whenever she says supper because they feel strongly that the term should be dinner. 🤣 Because I am attempting to teach them French, I also use the French petit déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner regularly.
My dad was fascinated by the “breakfast, dinner, supper” order of meals. Needless to say, the rest of us still went with lunch. I do think I’ll always be a “supper” gal when I’m referring to the evening meal I’m serving. When I go out to eat or plan to eat with friends, though, it’s “dinner”
But I have had strong feelings about sustenance words since I was quite young. Fizzy drinks are pop, and all the Californians I've ever known couldn't convince Iowa-born me otherwise. Plus, the verb "sup" sounds a whole lot beautifuller than the noun "din-din."
Comment from the south of England: I use exactly the same formulation as you, Jonathan: breakfast-lunch-supper (the latter for a casual family meal), with 'dinner' for anything special. But my family from the NE of England use breakfast-dinner OR lunch-tea. So it's partly a regional divide, but here in Britain, it can also be about class. Some consider 'tea' less 'posh' a word for the evening meal than 'supper'. Finally, some upper/upper-middle class folk use 'supper' for a late meal after, say going to the theatre – that is, as a meal eaten after dinner.
I grew up (mostly) in central Florida, though my mom's family there were all southern Alabama transplants, and my dad's family all migrated from Michigan. Everyone I knew called the mid-day meal "Dinner" and the evening meal "Supper," with one exception. If the mid-day meal was hot and consumed at the table–which was the usual–it remained dinner. If it was a cold lunch, like a sandwich, it was often called lunch. But we almost never had lunch unless we were on the go.
I grew up in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh & Philadelphia) and Fort Lauderdale. We called it breakfast-lunch-dinner. It wasn’t till I moved to South Carolina and married a guy whose family was from Mississippi that the dinner/supper confusion started. I think supper definitely has a southern aspect to it. Supper was an archaic term that came from books until I got married. And now we have conversations like, “Do you mean LUNCH-dinner or SUPPER-dinner?” 😂🤣😅
This reminds me of my mother’s account of her first date with my dad. Both grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, but my father’s family moved here from Ohio. My father invited my mother over for Sunday dinner. Another young man had already invited my mom over for Sunday supper. Thinking she would have time for both, she accepted. When my dad didn’t show up mid-day, she thought she had been stood up. It was an uncomfortable moment for everyone, when 2 suitors showed up that evening to take her home for supper. I mean dinner. I mean…whatever.
That's hilarious, Kathleen! It makes me think of a story that was told to me for the truth, though I'm not sure I believe it: At a school near where I grew up, a substitute teacher who was administering an exam told the class, "When you guys are finished with your exam, you can turn it in and leave." (This substitute teacher was from somewhere else, where people say "you guys" instead of "yall." After a while, students started turning in their exams and leaving, but the teacher was reading and not paying a whole lot of attention. But eventually he looked up and saw that there were only girls left in the desks. When he asked what was up, one of the girls said, "You said you GUYS could leave." As I said, I'm not sure I believe that story. And if it did turn out to be true, I don't know if the girls were genuinely confused by the teacher's use of "you guys," or if they were being smart-alecks. I suspect they were bing smart alecks.
I've recently moved from the south of England to the north, and patterns are different depending on where you come from. In the south, we use Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner as the standard pattern. But in the north, it is more common to say Breakfast, Dinner, Tea. If you're asking someone to come round for a cup of tea rather than a meal in the north (as a normal occurance in England!) you would ask them if they want a 'brew' so as not to risk confusion.
I think it may have been historically (eating it in the day when it is less likely to be cold and dark), though in the present day, it's less likely, as people have work commitments in the day, and may not get round to their main meal until evening.
My Grandma Clarke grew up saying breakfast-dinner-supper on a farm in north-central Kansas during the 1920s and '30s. Toward the end of her life (the 1990s), she began calling it "noon meal" instead. I guess she was tired of clarifying which "dinner" she meant.
Mom and Dad generally said breakfast-lunch-supper, but we younger folk are apparently too hoity toity to admit that we ever sop stuff up, so we call it breakfast-lunch-dinner.
I'm in my early 30's and from the Midwest, and I say Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner. My parents used Dinner and Supper interchangeably, though, as if they were synonyms.
It's sounding like "supper" is pretty common among Midwesterners. In the US, the divide may be more rural-urban/suburban than regional (and, perhaps, more generational than either).
I think I thought it was regional word usage, or else generational usage. People in my area have several regional words that they use interchangeably--I unconsciously switch between both "lightning bug" and "firefly," for example.
Oh, I get this! My mom said lightning bug but my cousins, who were much cooler than my mom, said firefly. So I tried that only to end up switching back and forth.
Here’s something I’ve only heard in my husband’s home. His mother talked about making “lunch” for those in her family who wanted it after supper, around 8 or 9 at night, by which she meant a smaller, additional meal such as a sandwich, maybe a bowl of soup. It was a second lunch because they did have lunch between breakfast and supper, too. (I thought that was crazy and told my husband I was finished making meals once supper was done.)
I grew up in a home with a father from a dairy farm in the state of Washington and a mother from a small town in Massachusetts. Her parents were Dutch immigrants and my father was 3rd generation Dutch American. We said breakfast-lunch-supper. My husband’s mother and father both came from a small town in Michigan and lived there all their lives. Also much influenced by Dutch immigrants. They said breakfast-lunch-supper as well and we did so in our home. Our kids, like yours, use dinner instead of supper.
My parents grew up on the farm and always referred to the evening meal as supper. Makes me think now because the mid-day meal was the largest meal of the day, fortifying all the farmhands for the second part of the work day. I don’t remember them referring to it as lunch, so guess they were breskfast, dinner and supper people! Makes sense now.
My family just says, “y’all wanna eat?” And of course the answer is “yes.”
Haha.
I can't do the poll because there isn't an option with second breakfast, elevensies, and tea. Just kidding.
This is a fascinating topic that has caused some intergenerational conflict in my family. I say breakfast, lunch, dinner. My parents say breakfast, lunch, supper. Really I am fine with supper or dinner because I grew up with either term. My parents are both from Ohio though we moved around to different regions as I grew up. My children feel the need to correct my mom whenever she says supper because they feel strongly that the term should be dinner. 🤣 Because I am attempting to teach them French, I also use the French petit déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner regularly.
I'm 17 and from northeast Ohio so I'm probably an easy pick for breakfast-lunch-dinner. It just feels so much more natural.
My dad was fascinated by the “breakfast, dinner, supper” order of meals. Needless to say, the rest of us still went with lunch. I do think I’ll always be a “supper” gal when I’m referring to the evening meal I’m serving. When I go out to eat or plan to eat with friends, though, it’s “dinner”
I also eat my supper last like Jesus did.
But I have had strong feelings about sustenance words since I was quite young. Fizzy drinks are pop, and all the Californians I've ever known couldn't convince Iowa-born me otherwise. Plus, the verb "sup" sounds a whole lot beautifuller than the noun "din-din."
...Wouldn't the verb form just be "dine"? My mom (from PA) always says pop, but my dad (from TX) grew up calling all fizzy drinks "coke". xD
Dine is fine, I was contrasting a verb with a noun.
Oh, you did specify that! My brain was just trying to draw it's own parallel there... thanks for clarifying! :)
I could have been a little clearer, I appreciate your nuance, Rachel!
Comment from the south of England: I use exactly the same formulation as you, Jonathan: breakfast-lunch-supper (the latter for a casual family meal), with 'dinner' for anything special. But my family from the NE of England use breakfast-dinner OR lunch-tea. So it's partly a regional divide, but here in Britain, it can also be about class. Some consider 'tea' less 'posh' a word for the evening meal than 'supper'. Finally, some upper/upper-middle class folk use 'supper' for a late meal after, say going to the theatre – that is, as a meal eaten after dinner.
I grew up (mostly) in central Florida, though my mom's family there were all southern Alabama transplants, and my dad's family all migrated from Michigan. Everyone I knew called the mid-day meal "Dinner" and the evening meal "Supper," with one exception. If the mid-day meal was hot and consumed at the table–which was the usual–it remained dinner. If it was a cold lunch, like a sandwich, it was often called lunch. But we almost never had lunch unless we were on the go.
I grew up in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh & Philadelphia) and Fort Lauderdale. We called it breakfast-lunch-dinner. It wasn’t till I moved to South Carolina and married a guy whose family was from Mississippi that the dinner/supper confusion started. I think supper definitely has a southern aspect to it. Supper was an archaic term that came from books until I got married. And now we have conversations like, “Do you mean LUNCH-dinner or SUPPER-dinner?” 😂🤣😅
This reminds me of my mother’s account of her first date with my dad. Both grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, but my father’s family moved here from Ohio. My father invited my mother over for Sunday dinner. Another young man had already invited my mom over for Sunday supper. Thinking she would have time for both, she accepted. When my dad didn’t show up mid-day, she thought she had been stood up. It was an uncomfortable moment for everyone, when 2 suitors showed up that evening to take her home for supper. I mean dinner. I mean…whatever.
That's hilarious, Kathleen! It makes me think of a story that was told to me for the truth, though I'm not sure I believe it: At a school near where I grew up, a substitute teacher who was administering an exam told the class, "When you guys are finished with your exam, you can turn it in and leave." (This substitute teacher was from somewhere else, where people say "you guys" instead of "yall." After a while, students started turning in their exams and leaving, but the teacher was reading and not paying a whole lot of attention. But eventually he looked up and saw that there were only girls left in the desks. When he asked what was up, one of the girls said, "You said you GUYS could leave." As I said, I'm not sure I believe that story. And if it did turn out to be true, I don't know if the girls were genuinely confused by the teacher's use of "you guys," or if they were being smart-alecks. I suspect they were bing smart alecks.
I've recently moved from the south of England to the north, and patterns are different depending on where you come from. In the south, we use Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner as the standard pattern. But in the north, it is more common to say Breakfast, Dinner, Tea. If you're asking someone to come round for a cup of tea rather than a meal in the north (as a normal occurance in England!) you would ask them if they want a 'brew' so as not to risk confusion.
Ah, I didn't account for tea! Thanks for this.
Ah I think I've heard something like this before. Does this mean the midday meal is the largest of the three?
I think it may have been historically (eating it in the day when it is less likely to be cold and dark), though in the present day, it's less likely, as people have work commitments in the day, and may not get round to their main meal until evening.
Okay, that makes sense. I wonder if there's a similar history in America, or if we've always had bigger meals at the end of the day...
My Grandma Clarke grew up saying breakfast-dinner-supper on a farm in north-central Kansas during the 1920s and '30s. Toward the end of her life (the 1990s), she began calling it "noon meal" instead. I guess she was tired of clarifying which "dinner" she meant.
Mom and Dad generally said breakfast-lunch-supper, but we younger folk are apparently too hoity toity to admit that we ever sop stuff up, so we call it breakfast-lunch-dinner.
I like the way she went to "noon meal" rather than give in and call it "lunch." That's strong.
I'm in my early 30's and from the Midwest, and I say Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner. My parents used Dinner and Supper interchangeably, though, as if they were synonyms.
It's sounding like "supper" is pretty common among Midwesterners. In the US, the divide may be more rural-urban/suburban than regional (and, perhaps, more generational than either).
I think I thought it was regional word usage, or else generational usage. People in my area have several regional words that they use interchangeably--I unconsciously switch between both "lightning bug" and "firefly," for example.
Oh, I get this! My mom said lightning bug but my cousins, who were much cooler than my mom, said firefly. So I tried that only to end up switching back and forth.
Here’s something I’ve only heard in my husband’s home. His mother talked about making “lunch” for those in her family who wanted it after supper, around 8 or 9 at night, by which she meant a smaller, additional meal such as a sandwich, maybe a bowl of soup. It was a second lunch because they did have lunch between breakfast and supper, too. (I thought that was crazy and told my husband I was finished making meals once supper was done.)
I grew up in a home with a father from a dairy farm in the state of Washington and a mother from a small town in Massachusetts. Her parents were Dutch immigrants and my father was 3rd generation Dutch American. We said breakfast-lunch-supper. My husband’s mother and father both came from a small town in Michigan and lived there all their lives. Also much influenced by Dutch immigrants. They said breakfast-lunch-supper as well and we did so in our home. Our kids, like yours, use dinner instead of supper.
Interesting!
Friends from Canada like to say "night lunch. Snacking after supper
My parents grew up on the farm and always referred to the evening meal as supper. Makes me think now because the mid-day meal was the largest meal of the day, fortifying all the farmhands for the second part of the work day. I don’t remember them referring to it as lunch, so guess they were breskfast, dinner and supper people! Makes sense now.
I love etymology.