What do you call your noon meal?

[Joel Merrill]

When I was a kid, it was breakfast, dinner and supper. Lunch was something you took in a sack or a box to school or work. Now days it seems like it is breakfast, lunch and dinner. You hardly hear the work, "supper." If I invited you to Sunday dinner, when would you come?

I'm curious if this is a regional thing or if it has just changed over time. Maybe I have been wrong all along. It could happen :cool:

Joel

[Gina Stevenson]

Not sure if it's regional ... a generational thing ... or sometimes even just familial??? Learned at home, "breakfast, dinner, supper." Then, "out there" I kept hearing "breakfast, lunch, dinner" ... same region ... same time era ... so wondered if it was a familial thing ..................

Who knows ... unless it was a regional thing, but some folks had been influenced by other family members, either moving here, or their visiting wherever and bringing this habit of meal-naming back home with them ... ???

Perhaps once your survey is complete, Joel, we'll know what thing(s) caused this differentiation between mealtime names, so that it might (& has in the past caused questons to be asked for clarification) cause some confusion.

Hey! We hear: "Call me whatever you want (not!), but don't call me late for dinner!" Well, one might not even know if they're wanting to be on time to a meal that's usually ingested about noontime, or the early/late afternoon mealtime that might be about 5-6pm. :rolleyes:

[Wilson L. Deaton]

We do two different ways....

If our biggest (best) meal of the day is around noon, we eat:
Breakfast, Dinner, Supper.

If our biggest (best) meal of the day is in the evening, we eat:
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Wilson

[Dana Grant]

We do two different ways....

If our biggest (best) meal of the day is around noon, we eat:
Breakfast, Dinner, Supper.

If our biggest (best) meal of the day is in the evening, we eat:
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Wilson

ditto

When do you want us to show up for Sunday Dinner, Joel?

LOL

[Joel Merrill]

ditto

When do you want us to show up for Sunday Dinner, Joel?

LOL

How about next Sunday, right after the morning service? Bring your whole family. It would be an honor to serve you.

Joel :)

[Hans Deventer]

If I invited you to Sunday dinner, when would you come?

I'd ask you what time at night you are used to having dinner :basic05

We always have dinner at 5:30, some people have it a lot later.

Anyway, you did make me wonder. We usually talk about th evening meal. Or ask if one would like to come over to eat this evening?
We do use a word very close to "dinner", which indeed is always at night, but that sounds very formal. If you have a "dinner" at night, you'd better dress up!

In the afternoon it would be lunch, the morning would be "ontbijt". Sometimes, if people mix the two, you'll get a "brunch".

[Barbara Moulton]

When I was a little girl in the Maritimes, "Dinner" was what we called the noon meal.

Now however, "Dinner" is my evening meal, used interchangebley with the word "supper".

[Michael B. Ross]

Hans, I am somewhat surprised at your 5:30 dinner. My wife and I have traveled to Europe several times, and we always note how late Europeans seem to eat dinner, at least when they eat in restaurants. Here in the US, the rule of thumb is if you don't arrive at a good, busy restaurant before 6:00, you can expect to wait for a table, especially on weekends.

Our experience indicates that in Europe the busy hour is 8:00 or later. Is that true?

I'd ask you what time at night you are used to having dinner :basic05

We always have dinner at 5:30, some people have it a lot later.

Anyway, you did make me wonder. We usually talk about th evening meal. Or ask if one would like to come over to eat this evening?
We do use a word very close to "dinner", which indeed is always at night, but that sounds very formal. If you have a "dinner" at night, you'd better dress up!

In the afternoon it would be lunch, the morning would be "ontbijt". Sometimes, if people mix the two, you'll get a "brunch".

[Hans Deventer]

Hans, I am somewhat surprised at your 5:30 dinner. My wife and I have traveled to Europe several times, and we always note how late Europeans seem to eat dinner, at least when they eat in restaurants. Here in the US, the rule of thumb is if you don't arrive at a good, busy restaurant before 6:00, you can expect to wait for a table, especially on weekends.

Our experience indicates that in Europe the busy hour is 8:00 or later. Is that true?

Michael, none of the people I know eat in a restaurant with much regularity. 90% of the time, if not more, people will have their dinner at home.

At home, people usually eat a lot earlier than in a restaurant, because going to a restaurant is like "going out". You'll be spending at least two hours there, it will be the main thing of your evening. Hence, it starts later.

Now we ourselves are really early at 5:30. But 6:00 is a very regular time. Depending on what time people are home from work, it might also be something like 6:30 or even 7:00, but that would be considered late.

Almost everything that is organized on a night (like church activities, meetings etc) would start at 8:00pm. Everyone is supposed to have finished dinner by then and have time to spare to get there. Some of the regular meetings at the district level even start at 7:30 pm. If you have to travel for an hour, it means you'll have to have finished dinner by 6:30.

Now in the south of Europe, those times are later. In Southern France, in Spain or Italy, people will often have siesta like times and hence, have dinner around 8:00. It would be still far too warm, especially in Summer, for dinner at 6:00. The only folks you would see busy preparing dinner at that time on a French camping site would be the Dutch, watched by the French with some surprise :basic05

Does this explain some?

[Sara Sheppard]

I think for me it depends on where I'm having the meal. If I'm going out - its for dinner. If I'm cooking, its supper. LOL And well Sunday "lunch" is Dinner...don't know why - it just is.

When I was younger, we seldom said dinner.

Sara

[Barb Bouldrey]

My usage of the words are the same as Sara's. It is Sunday dinner following morning worship. If we eat out, we are going out to dinner...even if it is pizza or burger. At home it is usually, "supper's ready!"

In Germany, the average home has the big meal at noon and a light supper of bread & cheese or fruit. I guess that if they are away from home at work at noon, they still eat a big meal and eat light in the evening. When Anja was here for two weeks she had trouble eating much at all at the evening meal because she is just not used to that.

Barb

[Gina Stevenson]

When I was younger, we seldom said dinner.

Sara

Well, we did say dinner while growing up ... but it was eaten when lunch is now eaten ... the time for dinner has changed, I guess.

[Sara Sheppard]

In Germany, the average home has the big meal at noon and a light supper of bread & cheese or fruit. I guess that if they are away from home at work at noon, they still eat a big meal and eat light in the evening. When Anja was here for two weeks she had trouble eating much at all at the evening meal because she is just not used to that.

Barb

Americans (me included for sure) would be wise to follow that standard. I know if I ate less at night I'd probably sleep better and weigh less..... :rolleyes:

Sara

[Gina Stevenson]

Americans (me included for sure) would be wise to follow that standard. I know if I ate less at night I'd probably sleep better and weigh less..... :rolleyes:

Sara

Yes, it is definitely a wiser way to eat ... making the lunchtime meal the big one, and having a lighter one at night. Perhaps it´s because it´s hard to carry a main-big meal to work, people started eating their big one at night, rather than at noon, once they started working outside of the home, farming ....

Big dinner in the evening rather than at noon might be one of many things influenced by the industrial age.

[Edith K. Thurmond]

Americans (me included for sure) would be wise to follow that standard. I know if I ate less at night I'd probably sleep better and weigh less..... :rolleyes:

Sara

Often it has been said by many:

Eat breakfast like a king
Eat lunch like a prince
Eat dinner like a pauper.Most Americans do that process in reverse. The Europeans, in general, practice 'portion contol' which Americans have not learned to do. With all the super-sized portions available, it is no wonder that we, as a nation, are seeing our children with obesity and health problems at young ages. :basic04

Sara, it is good to read of your recent 'victories,' etc. May you continue to find favor with others.

Eastertide blessings,

[Jim Franklin]

At this point I see that I must be the old foggey with my response of breakfast, dinner and supper. I may be slow but I am old so "cut me some slack." Growing up it was the "high fallutin" folk who ate dinner in the evening.

[Michael B. Ross]

Thanks, Han!! That is helpful. I enjoy learning cultural nuances. Very interesting.

Michael, none of the people I know eat in a restaurant with much regularity. 90% of the time, if not more, people will have their dinner at home.

At home, people usually eat a lot earlier than in a restaurant, because going to a restaurant is like "going out". You'll be spending at least two hours there, it will be the main thing of your evening. Hence, it starts later.

Now we ourselves are really early at 5:30. But 6:00 is a very regular time. Depending on what time people are home from work, it might also be something like 6:30 or even 7:00, but that would be considered late.

Almost everything that is organized on a night (like church activities, meetings etc) would start at 8:00pm. Everyone is supposed to have finished dinner by then and have time to spare to get there. Some of the regular meetings at the district level even start at 7:30 pm. If you have to travel for an hour, it means you'll have to have finished dinner by 6:30.

Now in the south of Europe, those times are later. In Southern France, in Spain or Italy, people will often have siesta like times and hence, have dinner around 8:00. It would be still far too warm, especially in Summer, for dinner at 6:00. The only folks you would see busy preparing dinner at that time on a French camping site would be the Dutch, watched by the French with some surprise :basic05

Does this explain some?

[Barbara Philipp]

I do a combination dinner/lunch around 4ish; I call it lupper then at 8:30 when I have my dinner break from work I have a salad or light meal. I'm usually sleeping when people are eating breakfast. Not good habit to have only eating a couple of times a day and then if I get ravenous pigout. The not so good side to working a late shift.

[Doris Grant]

I usually say breakfast, dinner and supper. But there have been times I have referred to the noon meal as lunch. Depends on my mood.

Doris