What's the difference between supper and dinner?!


Question: aside from their spelling of course, is there any significant difference between the two?


Answers: aside from their spelling of course, is there any significant difference between the two?

Supper
Supper is the name for the evening meal in some dialects of English - ordinarily the last meal of the day, usually the meal that comes after dinner. A similar meal referred to in parts of the UK is 'Hubsies' which is also eaten late in the evening; unlike supper, however, it is usually eaten after midnight, when the eater would usually be in bed. People working overnight would refer to the main meal of their shift as their Hubsies. Another example would be if someone were to consume food during the night, after being out for the evening for example.

The term is derived from the French souper, which is still used for this meal in Canadian French and sometimes in Belgian French. It is related to soup. It is also related to the German word for soup, Suppe. (The OED, however, suggests that the root, "sup," retains obscure origins. OED Online, Accessed 31 Oct 2007.)

Other meanings for supper
Supper is always an evening meal, but must be noted that supper is not a common meal in many cultures.

In Britain, whereas "dinner" is a fairly formal evening meal (usually at 8:00 p.m. in upper and middle class homes), "supper" is used to describe a less formal, simpler family meal (perhaps at 7:00 or 7:30 p.m.). Alternatively "supper" was used to describe a late night snack, perhaps of consomme and toast. In working class British homes (and also in Australia) "tea" can be used for the evening meal, served at 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. In some areas in the United Kingdom, supper is a term for a snack eaten after the evening meal and before bed, usually consisting of a warm, milky drink and British biscuits or cereal. In the United Kingdom, particularly in Scots and Scottish English, a fish supper is a portion of fish and chips. In Northern Ireland the word is used also as a modifier in this way for a range of other similar meals, such as a sausage supper or pastie supper, and appears to indicate the addition of chips.

In Australian English, supper may refer to a late light dessert or snack (such as toast and cereal) had some time after dinner. In New Zealand it is similar – generally cake and tea/coffee served later in the evening, particularly when people have visitors.

In most of the United States and Canada, "supper" and "dinner" are considered synonyms, both served between six and eight o'clock, although in the rural American South serving between three and five o'clock is common. In the south also, dinner can be used to describe the meal at around 11:00 a.m., while supper is used to denote the evening meal. You may also hear poor mans supper in the south which is consistent upon some type of beans such as pintoes, potatoes, fatback, and cornbread. Supper is usually considered lighter fare and a more casual setting, and may be served before a usual dinner time so that evening activities may be unaffected.

In the Republic of Ireland, a chicken supper is a meal of chips, gravy, onions, peas and chicken breast.

In Portugal, Spain, Latin America, Asia and the Arab World, supper may be taken as late as 10 or 11 p.m.

Dinner
Dinner is the main meal of the day, normally eaten in the evening, but occasionally at lunchtime. The meal normally consists of a combination of cooked, or sometimes uncooked, proteins (meat, fish or legumes), with vegetables, and/or starch products like rice, noodles, or potatoes.

The word "dinner" comes from the French word d?ner, the "chief repast of the day", ultimately from the Latin disiunare, which means to break fast (as in the English word "breakfast"). A dinner can also be a more sophisticated meal, such as a banquet.

Hope this helps! =)

Same thing...just different names. Dinner is the older and more formal of the two.

dinner to me is lunch
and supper is well supper
everyone is different tho

Supper is a light evening meal - served in early evening if dinner is at midday or served late in the evening after an early-evening dinner. Either way, it is regarded as the last meal of the day. Dinner is the main meal of the day, served either in the evening or at midday. However, in certain regions of the US (New England in particular), the words are used interchangeably for the main evening meal. Supper is the older word, dating to c. 1275, and is the less formal term. Dinner dates to 1297 and signifies the chief meal of the day, no matter what time it is served, and is a formally arranged meal, sometimes given to celebrate something or in honor of someone. Both terms derived from similarly spelled French words.

Here in the central US, I hear some people refer to supper is an evening meal, any level of formality. Dinner is a more formal or more social meal taken at any time during the day (excluding breakfast).
Some people use the terms synonymously.

there is no actual difference. to me there is breakfast, lunch, and dinner, now some people call lunch dinner and dinner supper and some people call lunch supper and dinner, dinner. I remember asking one of my teachers this once and she said that dinner is the common every day meal you eat at night and that supper was a big feast type meal that a lot of people have late in the afternoon usually on Sundays or on holidays like thanks giving and Christmas, I don't know if there is any truth to that or not but it sounded good LOL.

I always thought of supper as being the meal between lunch and dinner - like if you were going to be having dinner late for some reason....or an early dinner.

Supper to me is usually served between 4-6 and dinner then might be 8 or so....

Y'know, the meal to tide you over until you have "real food"

Its what part of the country you are from, in California it's dinner

close to one hour.

in years gone by whne times where poorer the meals were breakfast dinner tea and supper. You had your breakfast to set you up for the day. Dinner at noon or thereabouts. tea around 5pm mainly after children came home from school and men came home from work. and supper was to fill you up so that you slept sound and satisfied until breakfast the next morning. It was usually something leftover from previous meals or stodgy made to fill you up.

Dinner is the lunch time meal and supper is the evening meal.

It depends on where you are. In the south, dinner is lunch and supper is the evening meal. I say lunch and dinner even though I live in the south which can get confusing if you are inviting a southerner over for dinner/supper.





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