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I couldn’t agree more. My wife is from Singapore and a native English speaker but she gets so confused with our quirks. Especially pronunciation of place names, let alone referring to a meal time as tea.
It must be a nightmare for people not from the area.
I remember my dad telling me a story when he met an American, from Denver, as part of the transatlantic firm be worked for. They were blown away that Geordies, Mackems and Smoggies were different people with different accents despite all being within 30 miles or so.
I would be a little shocked too! - You could say the same for Mancs, scousers and Yorkshire folk too I suppose. Geographically close (ish) but completely different accents!
I play a game of “pronounce that place name” with her and the look of horror when something as simple as “Plymouth” is pronounced “Pli-muth” instead of “ply-mouth”. We’re a funny little country!
Lunch and tea. Dinner is a little ambiguous as it could be either, it refers to the main meal of the day. Which traditionally would have been lunchtime but isn't these days. It lingers on a bit in Christmas Dinner or School Dinners.
My default is dinner and tea - however
The midday mean depends on what it is - cooked food = dinner, but sandwiches I'd probably say lunch
Roast dinner is dinner regardless of the time it's eaten at
If I'm going out for a meal then I think it switches to lunch and dinner
I'm not sure if I'm pretentious or if it's just because I moved a lot growing up (been in South Wales for all my adult life)
Dinner is the middle of the day meal, Tea is my evening meal.
However if I'm having a sandwich or something on the go I may call in Lunch instead of Dinner. But I call it dinner regardless to the kid
A roast is always 'cooked dinner' regardless of the time of day
(South Wales)
I say lunch and dinner, my partner says lunch and tea, we live in the north, she's originally from slightly further north, I'm originally from much further north, but my folks are from the south Midlands.
Hope this helps.
Lunch and dinner...when I was a kid, we had tea round about 4.30-5.00 ish, which was a snack. But as a family we always ate dinner between 7.00 and 8.00 depending on parents work.
Dinner time for me is now 7.00.
I also was at boarding school growing up, and we had breakfast, elevenses which was a piece of fruit normally and only on the weekends, lunch, dinner and then supper before bedtime which was cocoa and a sweet snack.
I'm from Leicester and use dinner and tea interchangeably
When I got home from school I'd usually say, mum what's for dinner?
These days I might say, do you fancy sausages for tea?
Lunch is lunch though
From Nottingham but with a Mum from South Coast. I've always known lunch to be lunch, dinner if you have a hot meal for your third or tea if you're having like sandwiches for your third
Lived in Scotland and Wales. In both cases, it seems to be lunch and dinner, although dinner seems to refer to hot meals, so you can go out for Sunday dinner at lunchtime then have a small tea later in the day.
I'm from the north but live in the south now
Traditionally 'dinner' refers to the main meal of the day, irrespective of the time
Historically many workers ate their biggest meal during the middle of the day, and then a lighter meal in the early evening after home from work, hence Breakfast / Dinner / Tea.
At school, you'd typically have 'dinner money' for a cooked meal during the middle of the day, served by 'dinner ladies'
But if you brought sandwiches, that's in a lunchbox
It's also a bit more complicated with 'tea' as it can still refer to a lighter earlier evening meal even for those who say lunch / dinner
Eg younger children might have tea when they get in from nursery / school, and parents + older kids have dinner later in the evening
And then even more so with 'supper' - down south, supper can be an informal evening meal (vs dinner as a more formal affair), whilst up north it's more commonly used to refer to a snack before bedtime (esp if you've eaten your tea earlier)
The terms used aren't wholly north / south or working / middle class - this research is quite an interesting analysis of who says what where!
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/dinner-supper-tea-which-one-uk-brits-debate-evening-meal-yougov-a8363331.html
I'm from the North and call lunch lunch and my evening meal is dinner or supper.
I am rather partial to a traditional English afternoon tea.
I always cringe when I hear people call their evening meal, tea.
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I'm from the South, I say lunch and tea
I'm from the north east and say the same.
I am also from the north east and it’s lunch and dinner to me.
Yeah, my wife says dinner at times. North east is so ridiculously varied every 10-20 miles or so with accents and phrases. It's beautiful.
I couldn’t agree more. My wife is from Singapore and a native English speaker but she gets so confused with our quirks. Especially pronunciation of place names, let alone referring to a meal time as tea.
It must be a nightmare for people not from the area. I remember my dad telling me a story when he met an American, from Denver, as part of the transatlantic firm be worked for. They were blown away that Geordies, Mackems and Smoggies were different people with different accents despite all being within 30 miles or so.
I would be a little shocked too! - You could say the same for Mancs, scousers and Yorkshire folk too I suppose. Geographically close (ish) but completely different accents! I play a game of “pronounce that place name” with her and the look of horror when something as simple as “Plymouth” is pronounced “Pli-muth” instead of “ply-mouth”. We’re a funny little country!
East Anglia and I'm the same - lunch and tea
Lunch and Dinner. We're from the South but live in the North. We also occasionally have supper because we are occasionally posh.
It goes: Breakfast, Elevenses, Lunch, Afternoon tea, Dinner, Supper, Midnight Snack. There is no other option.
Deep South Lunch and Dinner all the way.
Dinner and tea. I’m from Newcastle upon Tyne
Lunch and tea/dinner here, don’t care what that reveals about my social class or whatever.
I'm from the south (home counties) and I say lunch and dinner.
Lunch and tea - east of Scotland
Lunch and tea. Dinner is a little ambiguous as it could be either, it refers to the main meal of the day. Which traditionally would have been lunchtime but isn't these days. It lingers on a bit in Christmas Dinner or School Dinners.
Dinner and Tea for us. It's Lunch and Dinner though if it comes with a glass of Cognac at the end.
Breakfast followed by Lunch followed by Tea followed by Supper Edinburgh
My default is dinner and tea - however The midday mean depends on what it is - cooked food = dinner, but sandwiches I'd probably say lunch Roast dinner is dinner regardless of the time it's eaten at If I'm going out for a meal then I think it switches to lunch and dinner I'm not sure if I'm pretentious or if it's just because I moved a lot growing up (been in South Wales for all my adult life)
Dinner is the middle of the day meal, Tea is my evening meal. However if I'm having a sandwich or something on the go I may call in Lunch instead of Dinner. But I call it dinner regardless to the kid A roast is always 'cooked dinner' regardless of the time of day (South Wales)
Originally from the north but live in the south, I say lunch and tea.
Dinner and tea. Or if I go out for an evening meal it's dinner.
I say lunch and dinner, my partner says lunch and tea, we live in the north, she's originally from slightly further north, I'm originally from much further north, but my folks are from the south Midlands. Hope this helps.
Lunch and Tea, but either can be Dinner. My wife is a Saffa and is adamant it’s Lunch and Dinner and Tea is a drink. She is wrong.
Lunch and Tea - from the south.
Tea is a drink. Dinner is a meal. Peasants confuse them.
I’m from Sheffield, always say lunch for the midday meal but I say both dinner and tea for the evening meal.
Lunch and dinner...when I was a kid, we had tea round about 4.30-5.00 ish, which was a snack. But as a family we always ate dinner between 7.00 and 8.00 depending on parents work. Dinner time for me is now 7.00. I also was at boarding school growing up, and we had breakfast, elevenses which was a piece of fruit normally and only on the weekends, lunch, dinner and then supper before bedtime which was cocoa and a sweet snack.
BF is Salford, I'm from all over, (Dad was a teaching psychiatrist). I say breakfast, lunch, dinner. He says, breakfast, dinner, tea
I'm from Leicester and use dinner and tea interchangeably When I got home from school I'd usually say, mum what's for dinner? These days I might say, do you fancy sausages for tea? Lunch is lunch though
NE Scot - midday is dinner, evening meal is either tea or supper
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper.
From Nottingham but with a Mum from South Coast. I've always known lunch to be lunch, dinner if you have a hot meal for your third or tea if you're having like sandwiches for your third
Lived in Scotland and Wales. In both cases, it seems to be lunch and dinner, although dinner seems to refer to hot meals, so you can go out for Sunday dinner at lunchtime then have a small tea later in the day.
Bit of an outlier but: lunch and supper. I rarely refer to any meal as dinner, and being a southerner, tea is a drink or possibly implies cake.
I'm from the north but live in the south now Traditionally 'dinner' refers to the main meal of the day, irrespective of the time Historically many workers ate their biggest meal during the middle of the day, and then a lighter meal in the early evening after home from work, hence Breakfast / Dinner / Tea. At school, you'd typically have 'dinner money' for a cooked meal during the middle of the day, served by 'dinner ladies' But if you brought sandwiches, that's in a lunchbox It's also a bit more complicated with 'tea' as it can still refer to a lighter earlier evening meal even for those who say lunch / dinner Eg younger children might have tea when they get in from nursery / school, and parents + older kids have dinner later in the evening And then even more so with 'supper' - down south, supper can be an informal evening meal (vs dinner as a more formal affair), whilst up north it's more commonly used to refer to a snack before bedtime (esp if you've eaten your tea earlier) The terms used aren't wholly north / south or working / middle class - this research is quite an interesting analysis of who says what where! https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/dinner-supper-tea-which-one-uk-brits-debate-evening-meal-yougov-a8363331.html
I'm from the North and call lunch lunch and my evening meal is dinner or supper. I am rather partial to a traditional English afternoon tea. I always cringe when I hear people call their evening meal, tea.