Forum: Author Hangout

Something similar for me. When I was younger and spending summers on my aunt's farm, dinner was the midday meal, supper the evening meal. I've heard some others refer to the meals that way in general, but mostly it's been breakfast, lunch, dinner/supper (the distinction seems almost arbitrary.)

As for tea, you got me. I read a story once (not sure where) where it was explained as being tea if the evening meal was before some time, and supper if it was after that time. Same meal, though.

"Dinner" refers to the largest meal of the day.

So if you typically eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but the "lunch" (which is midday) happens to be the largest meal of the day, it's called "dinner" as in your Sunday dinner midday meal.

But I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and it was always breakfast, lunch, and supper.

I was in a bed and breakfast in England when I was in my 20s and remember the hostess calling us down for 4 p.m. tea. It was tea and a snack like cookies or biscuits.

Breakfast is a standard term for the morning meal.

The meal associated with lunch, dinner, supper, and tea appears to be regional usage. The only usage of tea that I am aware of is for a light meal, commonly sandwiches, that is typically eaten between breakfast and the mid-day meal or between the mid-day meal and the evening meal.

As far as the original meanings of the words: Dinner is when people dine. Supper is when they sup on soup and sops (all originating from the same word).

Around 1400, for the nobility and rich merchants trying to impress their guests, the main meal was dinner. It was eaten sometime after midday. Then, being rich, and still trying to impress their guests, they would have a second large meal - supper - at sunset, allowing them to show off their candelabras. Breakfast was not, in this situation, a meal; it was just the first snack people ate in the morning, to tide them over until dinner. Of course, there was no tea at that time.

Around 1850, for British gentry, dinner and supper were still at similar times, though tea had become a small meal in between the two in Britain, and breakfast had graduated to be a small meal of its own. I don't think that tea ever caught on as a meal in America, but Alice in Wonderland says that 6:00 is tea time in England.

Tolkien's list of meals reflects a time when luncheon had already joined the ranks of meals, but old meals like elevenses and teatime were still around (embellished with a few extra meals for hobbits).

Since then, our daily work schedule (in America and Britain) has changed. Dinner drifted later in the day. As a child, I had some neighbors who ate dinner at 5:00, while others ate supper at 6 or 7. By that time, the two meals were merging to become the only regular large meal for most families.

What you choose to call meals, and when they are eaten, depends on when you set your story.

The terms for meals is generally determined by era, nation/region (and the Urban/Rural divide), Class, and other factors.

Breakfast ("Breaking the Fast") might be a light meal, however, for those who typically performed hard physical labor outdoors, it was a substantial meal, if possible. Porridge/oatmeal/gruel, fortified with meat if possible; or Eggs, bacon/sausage (or beefsteak), potatoes, and perhaps fruit, toast, etc. Typically eaten shortly after Dawn (and pre-dawn chores in the early Spring, late Fall, and Winter).

Miday meal was Dinner, more so when the Sun determined the hours of the workday. It was the most substantial meal of the day, and typically the entire (extended) Family gathered together to eat it. {Breakfast might be eaten in shifts with some performing chores, and the womenfolk cooking, the menfolk ate, then the younger kids, and finally the womenfolk, while the older males were already out working.}

Lunch, as mentioned by others, became more common due to industrialization, and the impractabillity of men coming home for lunch (and mandatory schooling for children).

Tea was primarily for the "Leisure" Class(es), more-so the Gentry (and "Commerical") Class(es) than the Nobility. Ladies were most likely to do this daily (except on Sundays), and it was often social (on a small scale) an opportunity to pass on news and gossip, as well as plan upcoming events, etc.

The evening meal was Supper, as in soup (or stews, aka "Leftovers" from previous meals), and might be served cold (room temperature) rather than (re)heated. Supper was typically eaten near sundown, before or after, depending upon the time of the year. People usually went to bed soon after.

Dinner in the evening became more common as it became more common for men to work too far from home to eat a midday meal with family. Also, gaslight, and then electrical lighting, permitted people to remain awake longer after sundown.

Supper (has) remained more common in the Southern states of the USA, and the Plains (and other farming regions); as well as some parts of the United Kingdom and other parts of the English speaking world.