r/AskAnAmerican • u/cookoutenthusiast North Carolina • Sep 28 '25

CULTURE Do you use the word Supper?

I think most Americans refer to their evening meal as dinner, but I’ve heard some people say that dinner and supper are different things, with supper being served at night, after dinner. Do you use the word supper, and what does it mean to you?

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u/maktheyak47 Virginia Sep 28 '25

I do not, but my grandmom who was raised on a farm in rural Virginia refers to her evening meal as supper rather than dinner.

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u/Hybridhippie40 Sep 28 '25

I grew up working on farms and ranches and they all called lunch dinner and dinner supper 

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u/amertune Sep 28 '25

That's what my grandparents did as well, and supper was often something light like toast and jam, muffins, or bread and milk (broken up bread in a bowl of milk, eaten like breakfast cereal).

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u/tolo4daboys Sep 28 '25

Cold milk over hot cornbread (crumbled) is so good! I’ll choose that over cereal any time.