What Is The Difference Between Supper And Dinner, And Which One Are You Eating Tonight?

Sep 05, 2018 by apost team

When you were growing up, did your parents call you to supper or dinner? Did they use the terms interchangeably? Even though many people do use these words interchangeably, there actually is a difference between them.

There is a difference between dinner and supper, although supper has fallen out of popular use in the modern world. If you were from a family that called you in for "supper," you probably already understand the difference between the words. But "dinner" families might not have such obvious reasoning. Many people say that supper is a term used in the South, while dinner is used in the North, but this isn't the case. The best way to explain the conundrum is by starting with the meal's basic components.

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When you use the word "dinner," you're not implying any particular time of day. You're just referencing the largest meal of the day, which happens to be the main meal. A person might eat dinner at any point throughout the day. Since no time is implied, dinner has evolved to become a modern catch-all word that describes your evening meal.

The word "dinner" actually comes from an old Latin term that means "to break one's fast." In English, the term most closely related is breakfast. But dinner's meaning still influences the use of the word, and therefore it is the most popular word that explains the largest meal you eat all day.

On the other hand, the word "supper" is a product of a specific word in Old French: souper. Translated to English, that means "the evening meal." This word's definition explicitly states the time of day, so "supper" always refers to the meal eaten in either the early evening or late afternoon. In most cases, supper will be a light meal. One of the most interesting differences between the two words is the implications about the time of day you intend to have guests over when you host a gathering.

In the 1800s, there were some rural areas of the country in which dinner meant the afternoon meal, otherwise known as what we now call lunch. Supper, meanwhile, referred to the evening meal afterward. This indicates that there may be regional divisions regarding the definitions of the terms and how they are used.

The regional divisions aren't as simple as just "the whole American South" or "the entire Midwest." Instead, the words tended to have this old-fashioned use around farms and farming communities. The reason that it crops up so often in Midwestern and Southern states is because the landscapes rely heavily on agriculture. There are more farmers in the South and Midwest than in the North. In farming communities, dinner was the main meal of the day, while supper was simply the lighter meal in the late evening.

Nowadays, the trend persists. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin are the states that most commonly search "supper" on Google. The farmer culture persists even in today's modern world.

What did the words mean for you when you were growing up? Let us know in the comments!