Dinner versus Supper
James Williams 
Which term do you use and why?
| by Anonymous | reply 112 | July 18, 2023 3:43 PM |
I grew up in Texas. My father explained that supper was the evening meal and dinner was the large meal of the day. He enforced this distinction. (You would have obeyed if you had ever experienced one of his lectures.)
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 12, 2023 7:17 PM |
Dinner, because I'm not some inbred hick from the sticks.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 12, 2023 7:18 PM |
Supper, because I'm an inbred hick from the sticks.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | July 12, 2023 7:24 PM |
Dinner is Lunch, Supper is Supper
I am some Inbred hick from the sticks
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 12, 2023 7:24 PM |
Dinner. I'm in Houston and think supper sounds white trash. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. On Sundays, brunch then pleasantly buzzed the rest of the day.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 12, 2023 7:27 PM |
Don’t they use supper in the UK?
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 12, 2023 7:28 PM |
R6 they even eat “tea” there
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | July 12, 2023 7:29 PM |
You way find this now-closed and greyed-out thread of interest.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 8 | July 12, 2023 7:54 PM |
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. "Supper" is Regional, used by Hicks, Hillbillies and Country Bumpkins.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | July 12, 2023 8:01 PM |
My brother did 4 years in the US Army (non-officer). When he came back, he was calling the evening meal "supper." (We always called it dinner.)
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | July 12, 2023 8:04 PM |
supper (midwesterner here)
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | July 12, 2023 8:37 PM |
Dinner, for I was raised by a mean old Midwestern kraut who insisted we call it “supper”.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | July 12, 2023 8:42 PM |
Dinner. No one in CA says supper or in any big city I've been in.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | July 12, 2023 8:43 PM |
Only on Sundays . The main meal was around 1pm and supper was at 5.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | July 12, 2023 8:47 PM |
I say dinner but supper is not incorrect.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | July 12, 2023 8:53 PM |
You ate two meals in 4 hours?
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | July 12, 2023 8:54 PM |
Supper is not incorrect. It is also not sophisticated or intelligent.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | July 12, 2023 8:54 PM |
Supper is a light meal usually eaten at home whereas dinner is a more formal affair. I was told to never call it supper as a child.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | July 12, 2023 8:59 PM |
Dinner is the last meal of the day. Supper is what the banjo player from "Deliverance" ate.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | July 12, 2023 9:00 PM |
I’m Australian, so I say dinner when I’m having dinner and supper when I’m having supper. I.e., a main evening meal for the former, or a light snack really late at night, maybe just before going to bed, for the latter.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | July 12, 2023 9:06 PM |
Dinner and supper were interchangeable in our house.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | July 12, 2023 9:08 PM |
I once dated a guy from Canada who used “supper” instead of dinner. I use to make fun of him. “YA’LL COME N GIT IT! SUPPER’S READY!! FRESH GRILLED POSSUM!!”. He wasn’t happy. lol
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | July 12, 2023 9:13 PM |
Same R21. Also hick-adjacent.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | July 12, 2023 9:13 PM |
[quote]ight snack really late at night, maybe just before going to bed, for the latter.
People eat just before going to bed? Doesn't that cause acid reflux? Even heartburn?
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | July 12, 2023 9:51 PM |
I get confused about “biggest meal” of the day as I usually eat two meals that are the same size.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | July 12, 2023 10:21 PM |
The evening meal is generally considered the largest meal. Look at any restaurant that serves lunch and dinner. The dinner entrees are larger and might come with a salad or more sides. A "lunch" version of the same entree will be smaller and few to no sides.
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | July 12, 2023 10:26 PM |
For supper sayers (and eaters): Do you go out on supper dates? Make a reservation for supper at a restaurant? Have supper parties instead of dinner parties (or a Candlelight Supper, served on the Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles)? I hear folksy people on TV and in movies refer to supper but never in the context of going out to eat.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | July 12, 2023 10:35 PM |
Dinner only. For shum reashon people laugh when I shay shupper.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | July 12, 2023 10:49 PM |
And I don't recall Swanson or Hungry Man hawking any Frozen Suppers in the grocery stores.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | July 12, 2023 10:51 PM |
In the farming days (US), people would eat breakfast, go out and work in the fields. Come back for dinner, which would be the largest meal of the day. Go back out in the fields and work some more.
Supper was something less than dinner.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | July 12, 2023 10:53 PM |
Supper for everyday evening meals at home.
Dinner for more elaborate or formal meals, lunch or dinner.
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | July 12, 2023 10:54 PM |
Supper is literal violence because no blacks or trannys say it.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | July 12, 2023 10:55 PM |
I usually refer to my main meal, or something more structured and formal, as "dinner" and supper is more casual, informal.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | July 13, 2023 2:34 AM |
[quote]The Last Supper?
EXACTLY. It was like 2,000 years ago, and that guy got CRUCIFIED.
Let it go! It's DINNER now!
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | July 13, 2023 2:37 AM |
"Dinner" and "supper" are more casual?
More casual than what? Is there some other, more formal word for a late day meal?
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | July 13, 2023 2:38 AM |
R6, My mother and all of her family immigrated to the United States from Great Britain after WW2 ended. I was raised calling it supper. We always ate at about 4:00pm. "Meat and two veg", that was the standard.
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | July 13, 2023 2:39 AM |
In the UK middle class people call the evening meal dinner. Upper middle class and upper class people call it supper. Working class people call it tea.
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | July 13, 2023 2:42 AM |
R2 Oh, look--the inbred hicks in the sticks of Boston don't seem to mind "supper" in the least:
"And who can resist a lobster roll supper, held at Chatham’s First United Methodist Church ()?" — — Pamela Wright, BostonGlobe.com, 11 May 2023
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | July 13, 2023 3:43 AM |
I say dinner, but sometimes will say "supper" to be cheeky.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | July 13, 2023 3:50 AM |
We had pizza for supper. We're having Roast Chicken for dinner. Like that.
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | July 13, 2023 3:53 AM |
So dinner is chicken and supper is pizza?
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | July 13, 2023 4:12 AM |
Are you implying hicks can't live in Boston R43?
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | July 13, 2023 9:11 AM |
Southerner/related farmers and other hicks got the word supper from England…
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 48 | July 13, 2023 9:56 AM |
I'll go with dinner, but Ms. Ethel Waters made me sob when she sang Suppertime!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 49 | July 13, 2023 10:06 AM |
In the west, supper is not used, except perhaps in the sentence "there'll be a church supper after the funeral". I also didn't hear it used in NYC when I lived there. But in the south, yes, it was commonly used for the last meal of the day. I don't attach judgment to it though. There are a lot of regional differences in words that give a little charm to our otherwise not very interesting American accents. In my area, we don't use the word soda, we say pop. I say kitty-corner, not catty-corner. We say "thongs" not "flip-flops or slippers". I say "tennis shoes" , and only rarely "sneakers", but never "runners' or "trainers". We say "freeway", not "interstate". And so it goes.
| by Anonymous | reply 51 | July 13, 2023 10:42 AM |
Dinner and supper were interchangeable in my neighborhood in the 60s and 70s however when I became a New York Sophisticate I learned the old fashioned meaning of the words for swells. Supper is the last meal before bed so in old NY supper was the meal one had after an evening at the theatre or opera.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | July 13, 2023 11:33 AM |
Breakfast, lunch and possibly snacks later.
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | July 13, 2023 11:34 AM |
I don’t care what you call it as long as I’m fed.
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | July 13, 2023 11:38 AM |
Dinner, because I'm not from Iowa.
| by Anonymous | reply 56 | July 13, 2023 12:18 PM |
[quote]NY supper was the meal one had after an evening at the theatre or opera.
Not good to eat that late.
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | July 13, 2023 2:11 PM |
I call the evening meal “Din Din.”
| by Anonymous | reply 58 | July 13, 2023 2:17 PM |
[quote]In the west, supper is not used, except perhaps in the sentence "there'll be a church supper after the funeral".
Totally incorrect. And the majority of people do not attend church.
| by Anonymous | reply 59 | July 13, 2023 2:32 PM |
Never said supper.I grew up in an old Virginia family.
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | July 13, 2023 2:38 PM |
From Chicago.
Had dinner at 8pm when daddy entertained.
Had regular family dinner at 5pm. (Wink to High Tea)
And on Sundays and holidays, dinner at 2pm.
They were all dinners, it was the time that changed.
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | July 13, 2023 3:09 PM |
Wow, that early?
Here in Brazil, on Sundays we usually have lunch between 12.00 PM and 2:30 PM.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | July 13, 2023 6:20 PM |
^^^ That was meant for r61.
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | July 13, 2023 6:20 PM |
It's "suppah!" we never said "supper."
| by Anonymous | reply 64 | July 13, 2023 6:21 PM |
[quote] My mother and all of her family immigrated to the United States from Great Britain after WW2 ended. I was raised calling it supper. We always ate at about 4:00pm.
r40, how did your family manage to get supper on the table at 4 pm? We would have Sunday and holiday dinners around 4 pm but dinner was always served around 6:30 - 7:00. My mom was a teacher and didn't get home from work until after 4 pm, my dad commuted from the city and rarely got home before 6 pm, and my siblings and I usually had after school activities. Although when I was in elementary school and used to go to my Nan's after school until my mom got home. She'd fix me tea, which was a cup of tea with milk and sugar and a piece of soda bread, or toast and jelly. Sometimes a piece of cake if she had any. That would hold me until dinner.
| by Anonymous | reply 65 | July 13, 2023 6:46 PM |
Dinner is the noon meal. Supper is the last meal of the day. It is definitely regional just as Pop = Soda. Who gives a shit? Just eat and STFU.
| by Anonymous | reply 66 | July 13, 2023 8:15 PM |
First time I heard the term "pop" it was more of a "paaawp" sound.
| by Anonymous | reply 67 | July 13, 2023 8:25 PM |
Historically, in rural communities you ate the largest meal of the day (dinner) at noon or afternoon because you were starving from working out on the field all morning and needed to load up on carbs to finish out the day. By sundown, you were tired and ready for bed, but needed something light to eat, which was usually soup (supper) and bread.
Belgian, Swiss, Quebec, Southern French:
déjeuner = breakfast
dîner = lunch
souper = dinner
Cosmopolitan French:
petit-déjeuner = breakfast
déjeuner = lunch
dîner = dinner
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | July 13, 2023 8:46 PM |
Dinner, always. When I was a kid, my father explained that people “used to” eat dinner at midday as the main meal of the day, and supper was a lighter meal they ate at what we called dinnertime. He explained this with the strong implication that it was old-fashioned and something only hicks and hillbillies (“country people”, he would have called them) still did. My grandparents (born at the turn of the 20th century) also ate breakfast, lunch and dinner, although my grandmother would occasional talk about having a "light supper" later in the evening after a heavy holiday meal served at mid-afternoon.
| by Anonymous | reply 69 | July 13, 2023 9:38 PM |
What about Breakfast?
What about Second Breakfast?
Elevenses?
Luncheon?
Afternoon tea?
Dinner?
Supper?
Afters?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 70 | July 13, 2023 10:15 PM |
r19 Why didn't Jesus called it "The Last Dinner?"
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | July 13, 2023 10:58 PM |
Because the prisspot invasion didn't occur until many centuries later, R72.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | July 14, 2023 12:29 AM |
R65, this happened in the 60s and 70s. My Mom and Nana were housewives. They started cooking at about 2:00pm. Both my father and my grandfather worked at P&G and their day ended at 3:00pm. So, my Mom and Nana had dinner ready when they arrived home at the same time each day, 4:00pm.
It benefited me because I did my homework starting after supper was over. I was able to finish it in time to watch prime-time tv and get a good sleep.
| by Anonymous | reply 74 | July 14, 2023 2:05 AM |
Dinner, but I’m not such a stick-up-my ass cunt, that I would infer anything from saying “supper”. I also say “pop” instead of soda or Coke. Are you all going to call me an inbred hillbilly (and yes, I’m sure you stuck up bitches will)?
| by Anonymous | reply 75 | July 14, 2023 2:13 AM |
In Canada we call it "pop". Only the geriatric call it "soda". "Soft drink" is used in American restaurant chains only.
| by Anonymous | reply 76 | July 14, 2023 2:36 AM |
R74, which century was this and which flyover state?
| by Anonymous | reply 77 | July 14, 2023 3:27 AM |
Yeah, well, in America we call it soda, r76. The poors call it pop.
| by Anonymous | reply 78 | July 14, 2023 3:28 AM |
[quote] In Canada we call it "pop".
Not this Canadian
| by Anonymous | reply 79 | July 14, 2023 3:32 AM |
My parents were originally from New Brunswick, Canada, where everyone seemed to call the evening meal supper. Probably a British thing.
| by Anonymous | reply 80 | July 14, 2023 3:33 AM |
I don’t think I’ve ever even said the word supper in my life.
| by Anonymous | reply 81 | July 14, 2023 3:41 AM |
[quote]Not this Canadian
When does your American passport expire?
You aren't a real Canadian
| by Anonymous | reply 82 | July 14, 2023 4:29 AM |
I have never used supper and I never will.
| by Anonymous | reply 83 | July 14, 2023 4:31 AM |
No one says "give me a soft drink". LOL
| by Anonymous | reply 84 | July 14, 2023 4:31 AM |
As I said, r77, it happened in the 1960s and 70s. We were in Cincinnati, the home base of the company.
Both my Dad and my grandfather worked at the Ivorydale plant. They both worked in windowless brick buildings with no air conditioning. The machines were adding heat all day. When they got home, they were hungry and dehydrated. That’s why we ate so early.
| by Anonymous | reply 85 | July 14, 2023 9:04 AM |
Who gives a shit, r85? We didn’t ask for your goddamn life story. Jesus.
| by Anonymous | reply 86 | July 14, 2023 9:20 AM |
R88, sorry to see that someone didn't post in your personally approved format and you got upset.
What an asshole you are. Learn to scroll and NOT comment.
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | July 14, 2023 11:24 AM |
[quote] In Canada we call it "pop". Only the geriatric call it "soda". "Soft drink" is used in American restaurant chains only.
Nope. Grew up in Ottawa. Never heard the word 'pop' until we got cable and American TV. I also never heard the term 'French Fries' until then, when I saw my first McDonald's commercials... and only ever ate 'chips' with vinegar until we took a trip to the US and saw them using ketchup.
| by Anonymous | reply 88 | July 14, 2023 12:04 PM |
So it IS a geriatric thing. Got it.
| by Anonymous | reply 89 | July 14, 2023 12:06 PM |
All you in-bred hicks saying "supper," do you also "WARSH UP" before supper?
| by Anonymous | reply 90 | July 14, 2023 1:35 PM |
Supper is what one has when returning home from the opera and a stop at the club.
Dinner is what one enjoys at the dining table at the time the house has dinner.
| by Anonymous | reply 91 | July 14, 2023 1:48 PM |
R88 I grew up in Ottawa too! Famous for its chip trucks with the salt and apple cider vinegar.
R84 No one orders a “soft drink” or “pop”. You order a Coke, or a Ginger Ale, or Tonic Water, etc. You *refer* to them as soft drinks, pop, soda, whatever… do you think a waiter or store cashier can read your mind when you tell them “I’ll have a pop!” ?
| by Anonymous | reply 92 | July 14, 2023 1:58 PM |
Grew up in Boston, dinner was on Sunday and started at 4, supper was 630 weeknights, we called it 'tonic', no idea why.
Supper clubs were fancy places we did not go to.
| by Anonymous | reply 93 | July 14, 2023 2:01 PM |
I say dinner now but growing up in working class Michigan we called it supper. Except in Sundays when it was earlier and called dinner.
| by Anonymous | reply 94 | July 14, 2023 2:04 PM |
R7 is right. We eat our tea in the early evening.
| by Anonymous | reply 95 | July 14, 2023 2:04 PM |
[quote]No one orders a “soft drink” or “pop”. You order a Coke, or a Ginger Ale, or Tonic Water, etc. You *refer* to them as soft drinks, pop, soda, whatever… do you think a waiter or store cashier can read your mind when you tell them “I’ll have a pop!” ?
No one says "can of soft drink" or "bottle of soft drink" It's a can of pop or bottle of pop. Soft drink is only written on menus. No one asks "what kind of soft drinks do you have", they will says "drinks" or "pop". Come on.
| by Anonymous | reply 96 | July 14, 2023 2:09 PM |
R50 Everything sounds trashy to trash.
| by Anonymous | reply 97 | July 14, 2023 11:59 PM |
I'm from a place that says "pop". We don't go into a restaurant and order a pop, we order Coke or Seven-Up. But if we have friends over, we tell them to help themselves, there's pop in the fridge. Or, if describing what someone had for lunch, we'll say, "she had a BLT and a can of pop". It is more used with cans. If someone is served pop in a glass with ice, I'm more likely to say that he had a soft drink.
| by Anonymous | reply 98 | July 15, 2023 8:51 AM |
I'm from the Midwest, but I've only heard hillbillies and old people say "supper." I detest that word.
| by Anonymous | reply 99 | July 15, 2023 10:03 PM |
♪ C'mon, c'mon... It's suppertiiiiiiime... ♪
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 100 | July 15, 2023 10:37 PM |
I support a supposed supper sport of spurting spork ports.
| by Anonymous | reply 101 | July 16, 2023 12:00 AM |
Dinner. No one I know says supper.
| by Anonymous | reply 102 | July 16, 2023 12:32 AM |
Supper is an odd occasional meal taken at the end of the day. Like after the Opera, a Ball, a Shivaree.
Suppers after Balls, with proper attendance, may be buffets.
| by Anonymous | reply 103 | July 17, 2023 10:41 AM |
In my family home in the south it was breakfast, lunch, & dinner. Supper was the big meal on Sunday evenings, usually with relatives in attendance.
| by Anonymous | reply 104 | July 17, 2023 11:06 AM |
When I was younger, it was supper. As I became an adult, supper sounded déclassé, and dinner became more proper and sophisticated.
Plus, people say "going out to dinner" so "supper" became out of style.
| by Anonymous | reply 105 | July 17, 2023 11:11 AM |
In grammar school, the nuns always called the noontime meal, "dinner."
And so, at home the evening meal was "supper."
However, the midday meal (not at noon, but more like 2 or 3pm) on Sunday was "dinner."
| by Anonymous | reply 106 | July 17, 2023 11:15 AM |
"The Last Dinner" just didn't work.
| by Anonymous | reply 107 | July 17, 2023 11:17 AM |
The dictionary defines 'supper' as "a social gathering where a light evening meal is served".
| by Anonymous | reply 108 | July 17, 2023 11:41 AM |
There’s nothing light or casual about my candlelight suppers!!!
| by Anonymous | reply 109 | July 18, 2023 2:32 PM |
I'm in Winnipeg in the Prairie region of Canada. I'm in my late fifties. Growing up, the evening meal at home was always called "supper". The six o'clock news on TV was the supper hour news. Dinner was something more formal and elaborate, something you dressed up for. I've noticed a generational change, starting about 20 years ago. Younger people refer to the casual evening meal at home as "dinner" and treat you like a hick if you say "supper". It's spread to all of society. I don't know if this is due to the influence of movies or TV or something else.
| by Anonymous | reply 110 | July 18, 2023 2:59 PM |
[quote]In Canada we call it "pop". Only the geriatric call it "soda". "Soft drink" is used in American restaurant chains only.
"Pop" is a quaint hick term if I've ever heard one. It's not even a real word. "Soda" is supremely irritating and foreign. The correct term is "soft drink".
| by Anonymous | reply 111 | July 18, 2023 3:36 PM |
If only Faygo had called it "Red Soft Drink," it might have amounted to something.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 112 | July 18, 2023 3:43 PM |
