Posted by Alex Forbes on September 19, 2017 at 17:09:36 user Pitsligo.
In Reply to: Re: Class and language in the books posted by Adam Quinan on September 19, 2017 at 06:06:39:
I'm not sure if this is interesting, but it's there on Wiki:
"As late as 1945, Emily Post wrote in the magazine Etiquette that luncheon is "generally given by and for women, but it is not unusual, especially in summer places or in town on Saturday or Sunday, to include an equal number of men" – hence the mildly disparaging phrase, "the ladies who lunch". Lunch was a ladies' light meal; when the Prince of Wales stopped to eat a dainty luncheon with lady friends, he was laughed at for this effeminacy."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunch
Which may be why the S&A characters intuit that "lunch" is a meal taken with natives.
That webpage has all sorts of interesting and potentially applicable "social etymology" of meals.
Alex
Post a followup (Only if you agree to the Terms and Conditions)