Saw this map on pusbook, enjoyed it. Why do Orcandians call it supper, and Shelties call it tea (like the rest of the normal world)?

by Un-Prophete

43 comments

  1. Yer tea’s oot.

    Never in ma puff have I heard any Scottish person call it supper.

  2. Yer tea’s ready was what my nan used to say. I cannae imagine her saying “yer no clear majoritys oot”

  3. Yer tea is what you drink, yer dinner is what you eat (you don’t go to a restaurant for tea, you go to a restaurant for dinner) And supper means ‘with chips’.

  4. From Greenock and my mum used to say “your tea’s ready” all the time. Was the same with all my pals

  5. Paternal side of the family is all from Aberdeen/shire and they always refer to dinner as supper and lunch as dinner.

    Maternal side is pretty much all Dundee and staunch tea advocates.

  6. I can handle calling dinner tea, but I can’t handle calling lunch dinner

  8. I always thought that it depended on whether your main hot meal for the day was in the afternoon or evening.

    You can have lunch and then dinner.

    Or you can have dinner and then tea.

  9. I’m from East sutherland and never heard anyone call their evening meal supper. Mostly tea or, to a lesser extent, dinner.

  13. What I’ve learned is that folk who say tea will defend it to the death. You do you. I’m from Aberdeen, and I indeed call 12pm food-dinner, and 5pm food-supper. Tea is a drink, high tea is a posh version of fly cup.

  14. Growing up in West Highlands we used to call it supper, but my parents were a weird combination of Govan weedgie and Chelsea Londoner so who knows where that came from

    My own family (East Highland) call it dinner

  16. I’m an Orcadian and have never called it supper, always tea and everyone I know calls it tea, we definitely don’t call it supper.

  17. * Breakfast
    * Second breakfast (a roll n something)
    * Elvenses
    * Lunch
    * Afternoon tea
    * Dinner
    * Supper – an auxiliary meal taken after dinner

  18. I’ve always heard family and friends say dinner but will occasionally here supper getting used

  20. All depends on where and when I’m eating.

    At work the midday meal is dinner, if I’m in the house it’s lunch.

    If I have the evening meal in my house it’s tea, if I go out I go out for dinner.

    Dinner (evening meal) can also be a bit later than tea. Tea time is 5:30 – 6:30. Dinner is more 7-9.

  23. Tea is a cup of tea and some scones or cakes or toast or something, when you get home from school

  24. I’ve heard them all interchangeably, although supper is like 8pm+

  25. I live in Thurso (but from Glasgow originally) and I have never heard anyone call it supper. 

  26. Very interesting… In Scotland a clear East/West divide, in England it’s a North/South divide

  28. Isn’t supper something you have later, you know after dinner?

  29. Tea for me. My parents agree on it so I think it goes up both sides of my family.

  30. My mum always told me to say dinner not tea, then when I went to my aunties for a weekend I was confused by dinner being at lunchtime and tea being at dinner time 🤣

  31. Dinner ladies gave you your mid day meal at school. You have your tea when you get home in the evening.

  32. From Moray and never heard anyone say supper except at the chippy

    Mainly say dinner or tea

  36. I don’t think this map has the right boundaries. As a kid it was always “can x stay for tea” but this says we should have been asking for dinner, but then when I moved to Edinburgh I had to stop saying tea cause everyone got confused about what I was inviting them round for. More of a dinner place. 

  39. Growing up my dad would sometimes say “Supper time” in a silly way then we’ve always called it “tea”. I’m in Fife, east coast of Scotland

  42. When I was a kid in the 90’s we used to call a snack before bed supper

  43. Both my parents are from the west coast (Gasgow and Ayr) but we grew up in Edinburgh and we always called it supper

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