Dinner, supper or tea? This is how the country refers to their evening meal

The great evening meal debate continues...

(Getty/iStockphoto)

From Brexit to how to properly pronounce the word ‘scone’, there are a number of topics that divide England when brought up in conversation.

However, few prove as divisive as the question of how best to describe the last meal of the day.

While “dinner”, “tea” and “supper” are all commonly used phrases, a recent study has unveiled which has come out on top as the nation’s favourite term, and the results may surprise you.

YouGov carried out a survey of 42,000 people from across the country in order to determine how they refer to the evening meal.

The results revealed that “dinner” was the most popular word, with 57 per cent of the participants choosing it over the others.

Just over a third of the participants preferred the use of the word “tea”, while only five per cent referred to the meal as “supper”.

However, the study didn’t just examine which word was most favoured across the country, it also looked into how answers varied according to geographical region.

YouGov profiles, May 2018 (YouGov)

As may be expected, “dinner” was the overwhelmingly preferred term used in the South, while those in the North preferred to say “tea”.

According to the report, competition was very tight in the Midlands, with people living in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire only slightly more likely to describe the meal as “tea”.

While some may assume that the distinction between the two words comes down to class, YouGov has pointed out that geographical location is a more crucial factor.

More than half of middle class northerners call the evening meal “tea”, alongside 67 per cent of the northern working class.

Moreover, 74 per cent of the middle class and 70 per cent of working class that hail from the South use the term “dinner”.

Earlier this month, baking expert Mary Berry reignited the discussion on how to pronounce the word "scone", stating that it should be articulated in a similar fashion to the word "gone".

Her statement on TV show Britain’s Best Home Cook sparked a huge debate on Twitter, with one person stating: “The Queen of baking has spoken."