When did dinner become lunch?

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Back in the day you had dinner in the afternoon, and supper in the evening.

Now you have dinner in the evening, and who even invited this lunch guy?

When did this change happen? Is there a reason for it?

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This has been all over the place since the beginning of time. When I grew up we ate breakfast lunch and supper. Every once in awhile supper was interchanged with dinner. Then dinner became the word that you used on a Saturday or Sunday at noon when you had a big family gathering. Now that I’m 58 I go by breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I rarely say supper even though that’s how I was raised.

In the south, or when I lived there a long time ago when I was young, dinner was always the noon meal. It took me years to get used to that.

Breakfast, DINNER and tea. If you have a bit of toast later that is supper.

This is correct as why else is it called ‘School Dinners’ who have ‘Dinner Ladies’ serving dinner to the kids??

You need to clarify your location/region here I think?

The definition and use of “dinner” and “lunch” is very much a regional thing here in the UK.

For example, in the north of England, “dinner” is something you’d eat around midday and “tea” is something you’d eat in the evening. You may eat a “supper” later in the evening.

However, in the south, “dinner” is almost always an evening meal with “lunch” eaten around midday.

This has been the case for generations, but the use of “dinner” to describe an evening meal is becoming more common in the north as language changes and develops. Consequently, it may well be the case that the use of “dinner” as a midday meal has started to spread more to the south too.

Language is a fantastic thing and is constantly evolving, especially between the regions of the UK as people move around move, and especially as we share and communicate more through the internet and social platforms.

If you speak UK English and you’ve noticed this changing more recently, it’s due to US influence. In most places (except maybe the south I believe?) they’ve been calling UK dinner “lunch” and UK tea “dinner” for a long time. In Canada we usually say lunch for the mid day meal, and dinner/supper are used interchangeably for the evening meal.

Terms are colloquial depending on the regional culture of where and when you grew up, and what was common within your family. The main meals in my family were always breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, I’ve known plenty of people that refer to the midday meal as dinner, and the evening meal as supper. There’s no one correct label; all are valid.