A quick search of "Dinner vs. Supper" drew quite a few results with few answers. There are plenty of other people confused about what the difference is between the words. The most thorough explanation for dinner vs. supper came from Digital Streets.
According to Wikipedia, and mentioned at Digital Streets, supper is the name for a light evening meal that followed dinner. The term is derived from the French souper, which is related to soup. It is also related to the German word for soup, which is "Suppe".
On the other hand, Wikipedia says that dinner originally referred to the first meal of the day, a heavy meal usually eaten about noon. Eating this noon-time dinner "broke the night's fast" in the new day, and in Old French, circa 1300, "disner" actually meant "breakfast." Further, the lighter meal following dinner has traditionally been referred to as supper, implying they're not so interchangeable after-all.
So dinner isn’t lunch or supper, it's breakfast, and supper, which follows dinner, is really lunch? That's confusing enough, and that's where DS ended the comparison. But there is at least one more difference between dinner and supper: Class differences.
In colonial days, farmers were too busy to eat three meals a day, so they only ate breakfast and dinner. Cooking for the second meal started almost immediately after the first meal of the day because it saved the woman of the household from having to restart the hearth fire.
The wealthy had three meals a day, though: breakfast, dinner, and supper. With urban occupations and more leisure time, there was ample time for eating. Later in the 19th century, cooks and servants allowed the wealthy to host grand dinner parties with lavish meals that lasted well into the evening.
As a result of this class difference then, referring to the evening meal as dinner is fairly formal now. Supper tends to be used to describe a less formal, simpler family meal. That makes sense when you think about it. When people go out on dates, they never talk about having supper, it is usually dinner. But when families are sitting down together for a meal in the evening, they often say "Supper is ready!"
In central Minnesota, I don't often hear people say supper but it still happens often enough for me to ponder the preference of dinner over supper or vice versa. Personally, I like the word dinner better. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about the word supper sounds less appetizing. Maybe it has something to do with the popping of the "p" in supper - I also prefer saying soda to pop, which has a similar sound!
Which word do you prefer to call the final meal of the day?
Sara Duane-Gladden is a freelance writer in the Twin Cities area of the great state of Minnesota.
> Which word do you prefer to call the final meal of the day?
ReplyDeleteBedtime snack
Dinner! Supper bothers me too!
ReplyDeleteDinner sounds more formal and somewhat stuffy to me while supper makes me think of a family sittting down for a hearty meal full of good times; therefore, I like using supper.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in New England, and I completely concur with this person's "take" on this.
DeleteI am a Christsian and our Lord uses the word "sup" in the Gospels, which means to dip or soak. So the word supper can be derived from the Greek. The Bible was oft en translated in Greek from Hebrew and other languages that the New Testament was written in. Obviously there is much to know from the Word of our God.
DeleteI also like supper and use supper and this is what i teach my grandchildren
ReplyDeleteIn the Texas Panhandle where I grew up in the 70s/80s, "dinner" was the noon meal and "supper" was the evening meal. "Lunch" was not really used until the old New Deal generation started passing on.
ReplyDeleteI say both supper and dinner.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Minnesota, and we all grew up saying supper. My parents say it, and my grandparents say it. You get the picture. Supper rocks. Saying dinner reminds me of the Grey Poupon commercial...too stuffy.
ReplyDeleteHow about Sinner or Dupper? I kind of like Dupper...
ReplyDeleteCould be I'm all wet, but I tend to associate the term supper with British roots, dinner being somehow more American.
ReplyDeleteIn our house, supper is defined more by what we are eating than by the time of day. Supper is a family meal eaten at the kitchen table while dinner is comprised of "fancier" food such as a roast eaten in the dining room at either noon or in the evening and on Sunday or holidays.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the 60's on Wisconsin's east coast we always called the noon meal dinner and the evening meal supper. I guess I don't care what you call the meal, just don't call me late for it.
ReplyDeletep.s. There are many dining establishments that call themselves Supper Clubs, but I never heard of one called a Dinner Club.
I like Breakfast for morning, Lunch or Dinner for the noonish meal, and Supper for the last meal of the day.
ReplyDeleteDinner is what I have always called the last meal of the day. My husband, with East Texas roots, refers to it as supper. He also calls a pond a tank. Both seem odd to me.
ReplyDeleteOn the East Coast of Canada, the older generation definitely favoured "supper" and ate in late afternoon - 5 o'clock or even earlier. Social class also seems to influence this: blue collar - early "supper."
ReplyDeleteBut to many of the younger generations a later evening "dinner" is preferred.