LL-L: "Etymology" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 26.JUL.1999 (01)

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From: Bob Stockman [bsman at iserv.net]
Subject: LL-L: "Etymology" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 23.JUL.1999 (02)

Regards supper, which is what we called the evening meal in northern Germany
and in the rural Low German communities in the states.  Perhaps the evening
meal was primarily gruel or soup, out of a common bowl.  Then possibly
"soup" or "suppen" as we call it in Low German had something to do with the
evening meal becoming "supper".  And then again, maybe not.

Bob Stockman

  >  >From: Ian James Parsley [parsley at btinternet.com]
>Subject: LL-L: "Etymology" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 23.JUL.1999 (01)
>
>Doug,
>
>"Supper" had already entered the English language by the time of the split
with
>Scots, around 1300, so I don't think we could properly say it was borrowed
into
>English from Scots.
>
>It is probable it simply underwent a semantic shift, whereby it came to
mean the
>main late meal of the day in England and Wales but the last meal of the day
>(whether main or not, usually taken later in the evening) in Scotland and
>Ireland - this shift may be because lunch tends to be the main meal of the
day
>in Scotland and Ireland, but the evening meal is more important in England,
tho'
>there's no guarantee that was always the case. It would make sense though,
>because I believe down in the West Country (i.e. SW England) usage tends to
>follow that in Scotland and Ireland (so the distinction is not North vs.
South
>but rather Rural vs. Urban).
>
>Regards,
>------------------------------------------------------------
>Ian James Parsley.
>Co Down, Northern Ireland.
>http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/1677
>"JOY - Jesus, Others, You"

----------

From: Dale Nicklas [dnicklas at sirinet.net]
Subject: Dinner and Supper

My family always had breakfast, lunch and supper. Dinner was a big meal, a
special meal, and could be either at lunch or supper. For example, Sunday dinner
was at noon after church; you would never have called this "Sunday lunch"
because you had fried chicken, mashptatusngravy, and other special fare. But you
might instead go to the Old South Cafeteria for lunch after church. You invited
people over for dinner, not supper, although if they dropped in you might ask
them to stay for supper.

On the other hand there were families that had breakfast, lunch and dinner, and
others that had breakfast, dinner, and supper, depending on when the big meal of
the day fell. So when someone said "dinner," you had to clarify.

This may reflect the fact that this part of Oklahoma was settled by people from
various regions of the South (particularly Arkansas and Texas, but also Missouri
and other regions). At any rate, it suggests that Southern usage was not
uniform.

Dale Nicklas

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