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What are your meals called?


desertstrawberry5
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I grew up in VT.  Meals were Breakfast, Lunch, & Supper.  Lunch or Supper was replaced with dinner when that was the main meal of the day.  Here in NZ meals are Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, Tea (the main meal of the day), & Supper (meaning snack before bed.)  

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I grew up in VT.  Meals were Breakfast, Lunch, & Supper.  Lunch or Supper was replaced with dinner when that was the main meal of the day.  Here in NZ meals are Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, Tea (the main meal of the day), & Supper (meaning snack before bed.)  

 

So for Tea, you could serve roast - unless you are vegetarian? :)

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I'm in Maryland.

 

We used to do:

 

Breakfast

Lunch

Tea

Dinner

 

Now that DH works from home and I teach several nights a week, we've switched to:

 

Breakfast

Dinner

Tea

Supper

 

Only half of us like a 'real' breakfast in the morning. DS and I just want tea when we wake up. Our stomachs don't get with the program until closer to lunchtime so in the morning we phone it in with a smoothie or a hard boiled egg to hold us until dinner. We like a savory snack with afternoon tea, but DH prefers a sweet one because he's a coffee drinker.

 

Eta: Tea at my house is the afternoon variety that may or may not include snacks, and not an actual meal.

Edited by KungFuPanda
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I grew up with breakfast lunch and tea but DH had dinner instead of tea so the evening meal goes by either.

 

Here too. Though somehow all meals default to dinner, in my head, when it's on the stove and not ready yet. Maybe "breakfast" is too hard a word to articulate before breakfast?

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It's class based and regionally based in the UK.  Middle class and southern tends to be breakfast, lunch and supper (or dinner), with tea being a cup of tea with a biscuit at around 4 or five and the evening meal being later.  Working class and northern tends to be breakfast, dinner and tea (a full meal eaten at around 6pm), with supper as a bedtime snack.

 

My stepmother (upper middle class) invited my brother's new in-laws over for 'tea' and couldn't get rid of them: they were waiting for the meal, whereas she thought the event was over when she had served a cup of tea and biscuits.

 

 

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I grew up saying breakfast, dinner, and supper.  We also had tea time at 10am and 4pm.  The 10am time was set when I was at boarding school.  It was right after chapel, after our 2nd class and it was served to us.  school got out at 3:45 and we would have tea in our dorms after that.

 

When I was at home, the hospital (where my parents worked) served tea at 10 and 4 as well, but even when my parents weren't working, we had tea at home.

 

Lunch time was the larger, cooked, hot meal and Supper was something light, like soup and sandwiches.

 

But I have now been in the US a long time and have the traditional American breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I try to have tea time still, but it is harder when no one else does it.  I have a snack and coffee or tea when I get home from work.

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I grew up in northern Ohio, and we said breakfast, lunch, and supper. Now that I'm out west, we say breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

When I first traveled to Louisiana 30 years ago, they said breakfast, dinner, and supper. That messed me up a bit! Now, they use  "lunch" more often than not instead of dinner.

 

When we were watching Downton Abbey, we had a proper British tea a few times, with my fine china and all. I have no idea if it was actually "proper" but we it was fun.

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Breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, dinner.  Grew up in S. Calif from Kansas-raised parents.  Now here in Midwest my in-laws always called the evening meal "supper" but I HATE that word (the double P sound erks me) plus I remember Snoopy doing his "Suppertime" dance in the comics and always thought supper meant dog food.

 

Ok, ok - I snuck that second breakfast in there.

Edited by JFSinIL
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ah, thank you for clearing up the tea confusion. In my family, tea is an afternoon snack. I didn't know it could be a full meal. I mean, I knew it could be elaborate, but I didn't know it could be the evening meal.

 

I'm glad to see that my Inlaws are not the only ones who eat dinner midday. It made perfect sense when gma explained it, but other people acted like she was a crazy old lady. 

 

Growing up, I thought supper was a simple, light meal in the evening, but now I know most people use it interchangeably with dinner. I will sometimes use it with my kids the way I learned it. I'm so relieved to see I didn't invent that meaning myself. 

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NYC area.

 

Now: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes afternoon tea, the biscuit - tea sandwich type.

 

My childhood: Breakfast, lunch, and supper for us children. We had supper (meat, veg, dessert) at 6 pm; my parents ate dinner at 8:30 pm. Sometimes afternoon tea, as above.

 

It's class based and regionally based in the UK. Middle class and southern tends to be breakfast, lunch and supper (or dinner), with tea being a cup of tea with a biscuit at around 4 or five and the evening meal being later. Working class and northern tends to be breakfast, dinner and tea (a full meal eaten at around 6pm), with supper as a bedtime snack.

 

My stepmother (upper middle class) invited my brother's new in-laws over for 'tea' and couldn't get rid of them: they were waiting for the meal, whereas she thought the event was over when she had served a cup of tea and biscuits.

That reminds me of my first barbecue. Invitation was for 2 pm. I thought that was late for lunch, but I arrived at 2 pm, quite hungry. I was surprized that not all the guests were there, drifted in slowly. At about 3:30, I said I had to go. Great shock on everyone's part that I was not staying for he actual barbecue, which apparently was generally served around 4 or 4:30. Who knew?

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SW PA, always and only breakfast, lunch, dinner.

 

Also, if a large meal includes eggs, fruit, bacon, bagels, potatoes, and juice I will call it Brunch no matter what time of day it is served- meaning, if we have to have our annual "Mother's Day Brunch" at 6pm to accommodate work or performance schedules, it is still brunch because of the menu.

 

However, cold leftover pizza eaten at 9am is still Breakfast.

 

Breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, dinner.  Grew up in S. Calif from Kansas-raised parents.  Now here in Midwest my in-laws always called the evening meal "supper" but I HATE that word (the double P sound erks me) plus I remember Snoopy doing his "Suppertime" dance in the comics and always thought supper meant dog food.

 

Ok, ok - I snuck that second breakfast in there.

  

YES! I had forgotten the Snoopy connection!

 

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

I don't know why, but the word "supper" always makes me cringe. You will never catch me referring to a meal as our "supper."

SAME!
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PSA

 

If you invite someone over for "Dinner" ALWAYS specify the time. Like I said above, my entire life I have said Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner, and my mom was furious with me for way too long after I got married because she invited DH and me to come over for "Dinner" and we showed up at 4:30

 

I will say though, if a major meal is planned between 1:00 and 5:00, usually only a holiday or weekend, I will refer to it as "Dinner" such as "Sunday Dinner at 3:00" when inviting someone.

 

I also often add to invitations, something like "Come over after 3:00, we'll be eating at 4:30"

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I grew up in Georgia and meals were: breakfast lunch and supper.  Dinner wasn't used frequently but it was synonymous with supper.

 

DH grew up in Illinois and meals were breakfast, dinner and supper. 

 

We have been married for almost 24 years and we still have to clarify what time of day we are talking about when one of us says "What's for dinner?" 

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