Lunch, Dinner, Tea, Supper?

I can honestly say that I know nobody who eats their evening meal at 8/9pm!?!? What's that all about?
When I worked I coul be home 6/7 pm latest with meal either on timer ready/takeaways/ something qu in ck.id be in bed before 11 on a work night so to eat late was a no no.
We had Sunday dinner in late afternoon as kids, but breakfast lunch and tea were the terms, supper was for grown ups after we went to bed!!

Breakfast, lunch - tea - especially with a family of young children and/or when they come home from school around 3:30 - it will be tea with sandwiches, fish fingers, cake, tea/cold drink), then supper, a fish pie, chops or a stew around 8pm for us older ones. If we are having something slightly smarter, say on a Saturday night and inviting friends over, then it is dinner!

Don’t forget ’Elevenses’!

We have Breakfast, Dinner and Tea. My husband has steadily been promoted through his jobs and has gone from calling it dinner to Lunch and Dinner for tea. He’s been told to calm down with his airs and graces lol 😂

When young I (plus family) had breakfast … generally cereal IF I remember correctly.
We had Dinner at midday weekdays and weekends.
Tea was c. 4 pm with sandwiches and cake:
and
Supper was a milky drink and cheese and biscuits.
I didn’t have a cooked meal in the evenings until I left home!

Nowadays (aged 76) I have ‘breakfast around midday and a fullish meal at anytime between c. 7 and 9 pm . I don’t sleep well so an insomniacs routine!

When I was growing up we had dinner (around mid-day) and tea but when I started working and had a "lunch" break, started calling them lunch and dinner and it's stuck. In my world, only "posh" people had supper but I guess that relates to dinner ie evening meal. If I talk about "tea time" to my children they have no idea what I am talking about!

Breakfast lunch dinner here

M0nica

What the meals were called when I was a child - and now, all depended on what was being eaten.

Breakfast was breakfast and remains unchanged

The midday meal was lunch, if it was the secondary meal of the day, but dinner if it was the main meal.

The evening meal was tea if it was a bread, butter and cake meal, dinner if it was the main meal and supper if it was a light savoury meal - soup, something on toast etc.

This.

Think it depends where you were brought up. I was brought up in Scotland with breakfast, lunch, tea and maybe a little supper.

rubysong

If there is gravy on it, it is dinner, regardless of the time of day.

Excellent !

Breakfast, lunch and dinner for me.

rubysong

If there is gravy on it, it is dinner, regardless of the time of day.

😂

When I was in hospital having just had DC1, I was served burgers, cabbage, a fried egg and thin greasy gravy all over it. Just the thing for a new Mum.
I can't remember if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner but it was awful.

In my own mind I call my main meal dinner usually about mid afternoon, and certainly the dog has dinner for his main meal. When people come to my house to eat around mid afternoon, when I have made mince and potatoes, or fish fingers and chips, I say "Food's ready. Come on it's on the table".

Allsorts

Ps a cream tea, any time please.

Y E S

I came from a 'comfortable' old fashioned family. We ate an awful lot but were as thin as rakes. School 'dinner' always puzzled me - as it was our lunch - after school snack and dinner was our evening meal at about 7 pm. We'd usually have a little supper later in the evening, too. We only ever had 'tea' on Sundays, when dinner was earlier in the day.

When I grew up a little, as a teenager in friends' houses, I was pretty horrified to discover that they had only tea - but no dinner.

On weekends, they didn't have elevenses. What I thought was an after school snack was all they got - and they went to bed so early! We were the odd ones out. My first husband only got 'tea' at home - and was amazed by all our meals.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

What the meals were called when I was a child - and now, all depended on what was being eaten.

Breakfast was breakfast and remains unchanged

The midday meal was lunch, if it was the secondary meal of the day, but dinner if it was the main meal.

The evening meal was tea if it was a bread, butter and cake meal, dinner if it was the main meal and supper if it was a light savoury meal - soup, something on toast etc.

Simple 😂

If there is gravy on it, it is dinner, regardless of the time of day.

During my childhood it was breakfast, lunch, tea (toast or crumpets, biscuits, cake). Supper was soup, cheese and fruit.

Dad insisted on all these. Since he died, Mum has a much less regulated eating pattern! I have breakfast, lunch and supper (or dinner if invited to, or hosting, a dinner party or in a restaurant.

Salmon

We had high tea at the Savoy pre covid which began with beautifully cooked samon before the usual sandwiches, cake and pattiserie.
A wonderful gift for a special birthday from a great friend.

We had breakfast, dinner and tea. Tea was a cooked meal around 6pm. When I stayed with my maternal grandmother tea was a lighter meal of sandwiches, cake or scones followed by a light supper usually of something on toast. At some point after I married meals morphed into breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner being called supper signifies, to me, a higher class thing. I have never invited anyone to supper, only to dinner (or lunch of course).

My parents were publicans, always served bar food along with a separate restaurant in one location hence meals were as and when.

Both sets of Grandparents had their dinner in the evening apart from Sunday when it was always a roast lunch then salad and cake for tea

I was at a late hairdresser’s appointment last time in GB and was asked if I had had my tea. Thinking everyone was offered a cup, I replied ‘No, but I have had a coffee before coming here.’