Mom22ns Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 I use dinner as being synonymous with supper, but if asked to define it I will always say it is the biggest meal of the day. Here that is almost always the evening meal, but if we have a big holiday meal at lunch time, I will call it dinner. "I'm planning to serve Thanksgiving dinner at 12:30." My kids would just say it means supper, and they would call that "Thanksgiving lunch", but they they also know it has another meaning for me. I know that in my grandparent's day, they used dinner to mean the biggest meal of the day, and that was often the noon meal when they took a break from work. Supper was a light meal at the end of the work day before bed, because who needs to eat a big meal right before going to bed. They ate a big breakfast and a big noon meal so they would have energy for the physical work of the day. Far fewer of us do physical work today and we have electricity that allows us to stay up past dark, and that lifestyle shift has impacted meals and since almost everyone has been eating their biggest meal in the evening for years now, the meaning of the word shifted from "biggest meal" to "evening meal". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 16, 2017 Share Posted June 16, 2017 If the mid-day meal and the evening meal are equally substantive, then it's lunch & dinner. If the mid-day meal is bigger but not a formal company or holiday meal, then it's lunch & supper. If the mid-day meal is a formal company or holiday meal, then it's dinner & supper. DH doesn't use the term "supper" but obviously knows what I mean by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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