Posted by Dave Thewlis on February 22, 2008 at 01:34:51 from 75.111.50.119 user dthewlis.
In Reply to: Re: Dinner, Supper, was End of school milk posted by andyb on February 21, 2008 at 23:37:59:
If I remember correctly "dinner" in the midwest of America in farming communities was the midday meal for everyone including the hands. This custom might be originally British; I'm not sure it prevailed in Germany. For those with family customs which originally came from the British isles, the term "dinner" seems to have meant a mid-day repast of some magnitude, and thus came to be used only for the Sunday main meal which remained mid-day (after church), even after the midday meal shrank in importance as more and more people weren't there for it at the mid-day-meal-time, and supper was the evening meal even after it became the more important meal in terms of gathering as well as content.
The above was true in my family, which came from the midwest (and early on my father's side) from Britian (West Yorkshire if anyone cares). But in my wife's family "dinner" was always the evening meal, and their family background was largely German.
These days "dinner" seems to be a more "magnificant" term than "supper" and thus refers to the main meal, usually the evening meal. But some still use supper, as do many of the British expats I know.