Why do us English call 'Dinner time' Tea time?

Question

Was just wondering.....

Answer 1

This is a tricky one. It depends on your background - I'm posh, so my daily meals are breakfast - lunch - tea - supper. Lunch is more commonly referred to as 'dinner' these days - in schools, lunchtime is known as dinner time. Tea used to be known as afternoon tea and was a light meal taken between lunch and the meal I know as supper, but northerners in particular have come to refer to the evening meal as tea. The evening meal is traditionally referred to as supper, or sometimes dinner, but dinner is more often used when taking someone 'out to dinner' these days. It's a point of snobbery; commoners say dinner when they mean lunch, and tea when they mean supper. But it's common people who are the snobs these days. It's not fashionable to exhibit class any more.

The reason the evening meal has come to be called tea is because the working man would take his evening meal earlier than the upper classes, closer to tea-time, because he would have to be in bed early to get up for his early start. The upper classes would take tea at about 5 but not eat their supper until much later, because they could afford to get up later the following morning.

Answer 2

Why do Americans call tea time dinner. Its just the way its been done in their country long before Whites came to America.

Answer 3

English (British) etiquette was here before American etiquette, so why do we call tea time dinner time? I suppose it is just a matter of life style. Our pilgrims were probably plowing fields about the same time the upper British society were having tea.

Answer 4

Dinner is the main meal of the day. If that is at "Dinner " time (noon-ish), then what you have when you get home is "tea". This is normally a light meal - with lots of tea, of course.

On the other hand, if you just have lunch at lunchtime (noon-ish), then you have dinner when you get home.

Answer 5

There are close by variations. while i replace right into a new child we had breakfast, then lunch, then at approximately 4pm we had "tea", then approximately 7 to 8pm we had dinner. yet "tea" replace into in simple terms that, a cup of tea and a few biscuits or a bite of cake. It replace into not considered a meal, in spite of the reality that it replace into hardly neglected. by how, that regulate into the only drink of tea we had all day, for some reason we did not have "cuppas" in the process the day, in spite of the reality that we on occasion had coffee with breakfast.

Answer 6

Silverbirch is absolutely right. See my answer to a similar question here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ajom6L5ruiJ7pvyNTJUiGxMjzKIX?qid=20070117113923AAjBB55

Answer 7

Because that is what it is dear boy.