Poll: What do you call the evening meal?

NJ usually calls it supper. She grew up on a farm and the main meal (dinner) was served mid-day. My parents also called the evening meal supper, but I have always called it dinner throughout my adult life.
Just curious.

When I was growing up it was always supper. But now that I'm all cultured up it's dinner.

Generally tea, though dinner for a more social gathering.

It depends to whom I am speaking. I generally use supper and dinner interchangeably, but shift to their preference.

My mom and her family are from Portugal, my dad and his family from Denmark. I grew up calling it dinner as did both sides of my family.

We call it dinner for sure...although my husband's parents (from England) call the children's dinner "tea" and the adult evening meal "dinner". I find this really confusing, especially if we'ved had tea in the afternoon. I have never heard anyone I know call the evening meal "supper". But I have heard of a "supper club" does that count?

We call it dinner for sure...although my husband's parents (from England) call the children's dinner "tea" and the adult evening meal "dinner". I find this really confusing, especially if we'ved had tea in the afternoon. I have never heard anyone I know call the evening meal "supper". But I have heard of a "supper club" does that count?

When I was young, Dinner equated to lunchtime meal. Awfully confusing!

I grew up with "supper," but I now use "dinner." Our supper was 5:00 sharp, not 5:01. And my mother's still that way.

Our supper was 5:00 sharp, not 5:01.

It was 6:00 on the dot at my childhood home. And *my* mother is still that way!

Growing up it was called dinner. Usually served around 7:00PM. These days I still call it dinner but it occurs daily around 9:00PM. Obviously I do not have kids.

[Robin Garr]

Always "dinner" around here, as far back as I can remember. "Supper" seems rather, um, rural. We usually eat, er, dine around 7 at home, later if we're dining out, but we're not obsessive about it.

"Supper" seems rather, um, rural.

Robin,
I think there is a rural undercurrent. Most farm families, at least those I am familiar with, use dinner for the mid-day meal, which tends to be the main/big meal.
I grew up in NYC, hardly rura even back then ,l and my parents and grandparent used supper. Since we were near the bottom of the socio-economic caste, perhaps it is more class based than rural vs. urban??
Redwinger

We always said "supper" for the evening (big) meal. Lunch was lunch. "Dinner" was something you went out for. I thought this was a regional quirk until reading some of the responses.

Since I am now 35 years removed from Baltimore, I can't remember the last time I called a meal "supper."

I use dinner now, but supper was used in my home when I was a kid. Many of the farming families around here still use dinner to denote the midday meal and supper for the evening meal. My kids always ask “what’s for dinner.” They never use supper.

Jim

[Jenise]

NJ usually calls it supper. She grew up on a farm and the main meal (dinner) was served mid-day. My parents also called the evening meal supper, but I have always called it dinner throughout my adult life.
Just curious.

You remind me that my grandmother also called lunch 'dinner' and dinner 'supper'. Interesting now to contemplate that my mother raised us otherwise--she must have thought she was very chic adopting the new terminology.

I use "supper" and "dinner" interchangeably. I probably use "dinner" a little more, but they're pretty much synonyms in my book.

"Supper" in my mind; "Dinner" on my tongue.

"Supper" now often means a very late dinner, say midnight after a play.

Hadda learn a whole new language out here.

"Supper" seems rather, um, rural.

Robin,
I think there is a rural undercurrent. Most farm families, at least those I am familiar with, use dinner for the mid-day meal, which tends to be the main/big meal.
I grew up in NYC, hardly rura even back then ,l and my parents and grandparent used supper. Since we were near the bottom of the socio-economic caste, perhaps it is more class based than rural vs. urban??
Redwinger

We were as low on the economic scale as you could go. We called it lucky to have something to eat We usually had breakfast, always had dinner (even if it was just pork and beans), and lunch was something they served at school. And I'm not complaining.

Supper is what my family always called it growing up, and dinner was what my grandparents called lunch.

dinner - except on Sundays

Sundays we always ate our big meal in the early afternoon after church - that was Sunday dinner

Don't remember what we called our Sunday evening meal - but it was much lighter than a weekday evening meal

Growing up it was called dinner. Usually served around 7:00PM. These days I still call it dinner but it occurs daily around 9:00PM. Obviously I do not have kids.

my sister has kids (ok, one kid) and they routinely eat their dinner around 9:00. I don't think my nephew realizes some folks routinely eat their dinner at 5 or 6.

Used to call it tea, but now it's always dinner and tea is something we drink.

We always call it dinner, but my mother-in-law who has lived outside of Boston her whole life calls it "suppah." I love her.

Incidentally, as far as our dogs are concerned their breakfast is also "dinner." We feed them twice a day and both meals are "dinner." Their vocabulary is already pretty extensive.

My Barcelona nieces call it "Desayuno" or "Breakfast".

You see the evening doesn't finish until about 07:00 just in time for breakfast and a good sleep.

I vaguely remember the wonderful feeling having breakfast after a university ball having danced all night.