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I don't know about this. I was born and raised in the south and only left a year ago.
Lunch was lunch. The meal you have after work and before bed is dinner. I don't know anyone calling it supper. Matter of fact, I only hear that on TV and when people are asking the same question that OP asked...
Here's another one for you.. Pop. I'm from the mid-west originally (30 years ago) and it always makes pause when folks ask me if I'd like a Pop?
"hey you want a pop?" "a what?.... Oh you mean soda!!"
Another one is Creek and Crick. They are both correct verbiage when describing a small stream ... well at least if you live in the mid-west it is!
On a farm, I've always understood "dinner" to be a large meal in the middle of the day - after breakfast and prior to a lighter "supper" when all the work is done.
"Sunday dinner" is what you have after church - big meal served early in the afternoon.
Dinner is the main meal of the day - what time of day you eat that meal doesn't really matter (although it's healthier to be eating it at noon than at eight).
On a farm, I've always understood "dinner" to be a large meal in the middle of the day - after breakfast and prior to a lighter "supper" when all the work is done.
"Sunday dinner" is what you have after church - big meal served early in the afternoon.
Never once thought about it like that but the bolded is true.
In the south, the big dinner after church is Sunday dinner. It's usually served between 1-3 p.m.
After that you eat a snack or leftovers. No one is cooking after that point!
Location: Prescott Valley,az summer/east valley Az winter
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just going to add in my 2 cents~ when I grew up in the midwest breakfast was morning meal~ dinner was at noon and the largest meal of the day~ supper was evening meal~ lunch was the snacks delivered to the feilds midmorning and midafternoon~ and possibly something like ice cream before bedtime! Never heard of a snack!
After becoming city folk I found that dinner was the evening meal that everyone had in the evening~ lunch is what you ate at noon at work~ and anything you had to pep you between meals was a snack? ~ So who is right? ~ Whoever feeds you!
I'd say it's more of a rural thing than a Southern thing. My older relatives (Midwest farmers) would use those words too.
Yep. My father's family are Nebraskan farmers, and they ALL say dinner (midday meal) and supper (evening meal). Our ex-roommate grew up on a farm in Indiana--same thing. Dinner is in the middle of the day.
To dine is to eat a large meal. Hence dinner. To sup (akin to to sip) is to eat a small meal. Hence supper.
Last edited by Beretta; 05-29-2010 at 07:30 PM..
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