Which regions call the evening meal "tea"?

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Pedantichrist@reddit

Tea is in the afternoon, between lunch and supper. Dinner is merely the largest meal of the day. Normally supper for adults, tea for children, and lunch on weekends and public holidays.

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PaleConference406@reddit

No. It's a class divide, not a geographical divide.

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PassiveChemistry@reddit

Berkshire here - we use both, but probably tea more often

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Big-Astronaut-6350@reddit

My Cornish farming Grandparents also had tea.

My Gramp's schedule was: Breakfast - Tuck - Dinner - Tea - Supper

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Gisschace@reddit

Yeah my farmer grandparents too, as dinner was the big meal of the day. Getting up at 4 meant you needed something substantial then not later on.

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miklovesrum@reddit

My family is from Devon and we all say tea.

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AmyBums88@reddit

In Swansea, it seems arbitrary and not really divided by area? I use both "tea" and "dinner" interchangeably for the evening meal. Don't know why.

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audigex@reddit

I know some people who label the day's "big" meal as dinner

So if they have eg a big sunday roast at 1pm and then a sandwich at 6pm, they'll say dinner and tea

Whereas if they have a wrap at noon and then a shepherd's pie at 6pm, they'll say lunch and dinner

I can't tell whether I wholeheartedly support the concept, or want them to be given a life sentence in a particularly rough prison

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DazzlingBee3640@reddit

Yep, cockney here that does that! Dinner is the main meal.

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AirlineSevere7456@reddit

This is exactly how I would do it, the big hot meal of the day is always dinner.

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I8sum3141@reddit

I do this! I grew up in the north but live in the south so think it just came from that. Glad to hear I'm not alone, does my bfs head in though

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DazzlingBee3640@reddit

I’m from east London and if I’ve had my main meal at lunchtime (such as Sunday Dinner), and a smaller meal in the evening, then it’s tea.

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DrH1983@reddit

We called evening meal tea in the west midlands

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I was trying to work this out the other day based on my family (split between southerners & northerners) & I think the line would be somewhere around Birmingham/Midlands area & the different meals would be as listed below. If I’ve got any wrong let me know.

Breakfast - South & North Brunch - South & North Elevenses - posh Morning tea (tea & biscuits)- south & north Lunch - south Dinner (midday) - north Afternoon tea (tea & biscuits) - south & north High tea - posh Dinner (early evening) - south Tea (early evening) - north Supper (late evening) - south & north

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Slapped91@reddit

I think it’s UK wide - I’m from Norfolk and my mother used to refer to the evening meal as tea.

When I was at school in the ‘70s and ‘80s we would have Breakfast, Dinner and Tea.

That said, I would refer to each as Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner these days.

So in that respect I think it’s more of a historical thing, rather than a location thing.

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Front-Pomelo-4367@reddit

East Riding – breakfast, lunch, tea

Dinner is an Event Meal (school dinner, Christmas dinner, going out for dinner) that can be any time in the afternoon or evening)

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polkadotska@reddit

I thought it was a class thing rather than a region-specific thing? Working class people in all regions are more likely to say tea - it seems to be used by people in East Anglia, the southwest, the West Country, generally oop north, across Scotland and Wales.

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FunkyYoghurt@reddit

Lancashire here. Dinner and Tea. In my head Lunch and Dinner are more upper class. I think it's a class thing more than regional.

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CrossCityLine@reddit

100% a class thing rather than a geographic thing.

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Rhubarb-Eater@reddit

Yes, I agree.

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Trequartista7777@reddit

I've always lived up north, but I was raised to say dinner rather than tea... But I am an outlier, the other half will tell me off for saying lunch instead of dinner, and dinner instead of tea haha

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civil_blinger@reddit

East Yorkshire - agree with tea being the evening meal. If you're having supper that's biscuits and cocoa (or similar) before bed.

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Lcverz@reddit

West Yorkshire here, its breakfast, dinner, tea 💪🏻

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ddbbaarrtt@reddit

Have lived in Lincoln and stoke and people say it in both of them

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LeFuzzyOtter@reddit

East mids and we say tea

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Spottyjamie@reddit

Cumbria defo does but ive heard it called supper in rural northumberland

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Throwaway91847817@reddit

County Durham here, I cal it “tea”. And the middle meal “Lunch”. I dont use “Dinner” for either. But at the same time, a lot of people round here do, for either meal.

Honestly, I dont think its a regional thing, people in all regions call both meals “Dinner”.

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Whithorsematt@reddit

Surely the evening meal is 'supper'?

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repair-it@reddit

If we have tea, it's an evening meal, if we have a tea, it's a hot drink

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Maize-Royal@reddit (OP)

what about, "do you want some tea?"

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repair-it@reddit

That's the meal, the alternative is "do you want a cup of tea?"

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PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit

Grew up in north Wales. Live in Scotland. Always called it dinner and tea.

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Riskrunner7365@reddit

Down South...

I have always said Breakfast, Dinner and Tea, parents and grandparents said it too.

But it throws loads of people out when I say I eat Dinner at 1pm.

So I'm thinking of now saying Breakfast, Lunch and Tea just so there's no confusion 😅

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AirlineSevere7456@reddit

If you want to know where the North/South divide is on this particular issue, I can confidently say a lot of people in Coventry will say tea, but go down the A46 and Kenilworth/Warwick/Leamington Spa would say Dinner.

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MetalFaceBroom@reddit

It's simply your environement and upbringing that makes you mistake 'tea' as some kind of word for dinner.

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BillyJoeDubuluw@reddit

I somewhat disagree.

One of my Granddads is from landed gentry, he can speak perfect French and he’s not unfamiliar with Latin but he speaks English in broad Lancashire and he insists that it’s his tea…

It’s not always as attached to class as people like to insist.

There are also people in the south who use the term of “tea” for the evening meal.

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MetalFaceBroom@reddit

I specifically didn't use the word class.

I am from the south and work with people that refer to their dinner as tea. In fact, i've discussed this at length with one person for near on 15 years.

Environment and upbringing can encompass geographical location, class and everything in between. Your grandad is a prime example. Landed gentry would have multiple food stops, from the afternoon being high tea in to dinner and then supper. So perhaps both his environment (Lancashire) and his upbringing caused him to use the word tea.

Ultimately, there's no right or wrong. It's just if you refer to your lunch as dinner and your dinner as tea, you're missing out on multiple chances to eat ;)

And to add, I also refer to my Christmas dinner as 'dinner' - yet I eat it at around 3pm. So go figure!

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Maize-Royal@reddit (OP)

"What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?"

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Maize-Royal@reddit (OP)

amazing phrasing there

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MetalFaceBroom@reddit

You're welcome.

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sivvus@reddit

Dinner is the big meal in the evening. If you have a big lunch and then have a small meal in the evening instead, then it's called tea.

No idea where my family got that lore as we come from all over.

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kai_enby@reddit

It's not a clean divide. My partner is from Newcastle and she says tea, I'm from Glasgow and have always said dinner

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Low-Cauliflower-5686@reddit

I thought it was tea in Scotland

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kai_enby@reddit

This comes up every so often in the Scotland subreddit and the West Coast leans dinner and the east leans tea but there's not as strong a tendency as in most of England

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Particular_Tune7990@reddit

My Glaswegian parents taught me Dinner and Tea :-D (so Tea for evening meal). Ho hum

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ryanmurphy2611@reddit

That’s south though. South Scotland is still a southerner.

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kai_enby@reddit

The highlands aren't really universally tea either. It's more of an east west divide in Scotland rather than a north south divide as is more clear in England. Certain parts of Scotland are also a fan of Supper as an evening meal so that muddies the waters also

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

South Wales we always said tea, but lunch for the midday meal rather than dinner. That has never made sense to me, a sandwich is not "dinner".

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flummuxedsloth@reddit

I was raised in the South by Northern parents. Now reside in the Midlands.

As far as I'm concerned, tea is the meal you have at tea-time.

Lunch is the meal you have at lunchtime. Unless you're having a full cooked meal at lunchtime, in which case it's dinner.

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and7uh@reddit

The right ones

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FIREBIRDC9@reddit

Hampshire southerner here.

Use both terms regularly!

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Strong_Roll5639@reddit

Me and my husband are both Bristolian. Our grandparents/parents saying tea yet we both say dinner. I'd say perhaps an age thing but I have friends that say tea too.

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Derfel60@reddit

Somerset does

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BillyJoeDubuluw@reddit

It’s not as straightforward as it’s often assumed to be.

While there is a higher chance of hearing the evening meal referred to as “tea” in the north there are also some groups in the south who use this term.

It can be heard in various pockets of England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales but the stereotypical assumption is that it’s limited to northern England.

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KellyMelany@reddit

It's a linguistic minefield, isn't it? Up north, if you ask for 'dinner' at noon, you're fine, but ask for it at 6 PM and people look at you like you've just tried to pay for a pint with buttons. Then there's 'high tea,' which sounds fancy but usually just means someone's brought out the good biscuits. I once spent an entire weekend in Sheffield noddig—I mean nodding—along while everyone talked about 'tea,' only to realize they weren't offering me a drink, but a full roast. I think the official line is drawn exactly where the gravy starts getting thicker.

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Maize-Royal@reddit (OP)

no one likes a watery gravy! (or maybe they do?)

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audigex@reddit

Plenty of places seem to have watery gravy, drives me mad

Gravy should be served by the slice

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Firemicrobe@reddit

"I think the official line is drawen exactly where the grave starts to get thicker" hit my soul chef's kiss

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FlagVenueIslander@reddit

My mind was boggling….. where the grave starts to get thicker…. all understood now I’ve read the original comment!

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Whole_Necessary2040@reddit

My London born partner

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Maize-Royal@reddit (OP)

now thats surprising

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audigex@reddit

My grandad was cockney born and bred, always said tea for the evening meal

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Whole_Necessary2040@reddit

They are old school proper English white i guess

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FractalHedgehog@reddit

Also London-born, and use tea frequently. Usually if it's early or nothing fancy. If I'm going out in the evening to eat, it's dinner.

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Mammoth-Squirrel2931@reddit

Maybe rephrase to 'which classes' as its more divided that way. Poshos call it 'supper'

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panic_attack_999@reddit

I'd say it's probably more of a class thing than a geographical divide.

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Nosworthy@reddit

North East

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maceion@reddit

Lancashire 'tea'.

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Competitive_Rub_9590@reddit

North west

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missuseme@reddit

I'm in the south call the evening meal both dinner and tea. I call the midday meal lunch and dinner. It's confusing but I can't stop it.

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VolumeFluid8387@reddit

My hubby says "what's for tea ?" everyday. I call it dinner. We both come from Kent. Canterbury and Faversham, 9 miles apart. I don't think there's a divide, it's just what your parents called it I suppose.

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Maize-Royal@reddit (OP)

English breakfast tea? Earl grey tea? Green tea? Lots of different teas! 😂

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Purple_Committee_216@reddit

Yorkshire, but it's also a "class" thing, dare I say it.

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Kara_Zor_El19@reddit

Lancashire born and raised “Breakfast, Dinner, Tea”

But my partners family say the same and they’re South Lincolnshire

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