| And does anyone know the difference? Is it regional? |
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We usually say dinner.
Dinner is the term for your main meal of the day, whether it be at noon or 7 PM. So Sunday Dinner might be at 1 PM, Thanksgiving Dinner could be a 2 PM, or at 6 PM or 7PM. The smaller meal you eat during the day is either lunch (around noon) or supper (around 5 or 6 PM). |
| I say dinner, grew up in Philadelphia. I always thought only old people say supper. |
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The word supper grates on my nerves.
I'm from this area. We say dinner. |
| Dinner |
| I say dinner. The only people I know who use the word "supper" are from the older generation, and "supper" refers to what I would call lunch. |
Should add that I'm from DC. |
| We say dinner. I always think of supper as an English term, particularly used to refer to the kids evening meal. |
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I think it's regional.
I grew up in the Midwest. Dinner is the main meal of the day, and that main (huge) meal took place at noon. Think hungry, hardworking farmers. Supper is the evening meal. That said, we'd usually call it "dinner" on Sunday and "lunch" most of the rest of the time. (Beware "a little lunch" if you're ever hanging out with Midwestern farmers, by the way - prepare for a big, hearty meal.) I clearly adapted to non-Midwestern norms for the most part, because if I now slip and say "supper" my kids look at me like I'm speaking a foreign language. |
| Grew up on farm. Mid-day meal was either lunch (cold) or dinner (hot). Evening meal was supper. Now use lunch regardless of temp and dinner, though may say supper on occasion. |
| 15:09, ha, I am PP. Totally agree with you. |
| Interesting to hear about the regionalisms. There was a class distinction where I grew up, near Pittsburgh. To my immediate family, the mid-day meal was lunch, and the evening meal was dinner. My more working-class friends and relatives, though, had lunch mid-day and supper in the evening. |
| I use supper and dinner interchangeably. Mid-day meal is lunch. From NY. |
| Dinner is the big meal. If you eat it midday, the evening meal is supper. |
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I grew up here, too, and we said supper. Dinner was a formal meal on Sundays after church, around 1 or 2pm.
I say dinner now. Have my whole adult life. |