Re:Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two...
by gumby on Friday January 12, 2018 @05:10PM
(#16136770)
I have only encountered “supper” as the name of a primary meal in parts of the USA. I think “breakfast, lunch, dinner” likely is the most widespread formulation. I never heard “supper” in Australia or Canada at all.
Re:Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two...
by voidlogic on Friday January 12, 2018 @10:53PM
(#16138201)
Its all highly regional, but I believe my characterization is an accurate generalization. Checkout the "Word Origin and History for X" for:
1. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/supper 2. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/dinner
Interesting side note, Sup (verb) the root word for supper has been in the (old) English language since before 900 AD.
Re:Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two...
by int_19h on Saturday January 13, 2018 @01:20AM
(#16138504)
FWIW, I was taught "breakfast", "dinner", "supper" at school, and their English courses were supposed to closely follow British usage (although I'm not sure which regional dialects, if any specific ones, they tracked in practice). We were taught "lunch" as well, but it was treated more like a second breakfast.
Re:Tea if by sea, cha if by land: Why the world only has two...
by umanwizard on Friday January 12, 2018 @02:46PM
(#16135705)
Thanks, I was always confused about why people talk about having "Thanksgiving Dinner" in the early afternoon and now it makes perfect sense.
The three meals are "Breakfast", "Lunch" and "Supper". And if Lunch or Supper is the biggest/most formal meal of the day it may be called "Dinner" instead. Hence family "Christmas Dinner" may be at lunch time, but your "Dinner party" is in the evening.