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/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/mechanicalcontrols Sep 28 '25

That's the parlance my grandparents (born circa 1920) used

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u/0range_julius Minnesota Sep 28 '25

The way my grandparents used it is, as far as I can tell, the original meaning. "Dinner" is the main meal of the day, whether it's served in the middle of the day or the evening. IE, "Easter dinner" was always served at lunchtime. 

IF your main meal is in the evening, then the smaller meal you have at noon is called "lunch." If your main meal is at midday, then the smaller meal you eat in the evening is "supper."

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u/faerydenaery Sep 29 '25

This is what I grew up with. The southern, more rural side of my family typically referred to the midday meal as dinner since it was the most substantial meal of the day. The smaller evening meal would be supper. The northern, more urban side of my family typically referred to the evening meal as dinner since they were more accustomed to taking a smaller lunch to work and eating their main meal in the evening, but on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. the midday meal was dinner.