What should one call their midday meal? Is it more appropriate to name such a meal lunch or dinner? What is the difference between the two, anyway?
The land where I grew up was predominantly an agricultural area, and many of my relatives called their midday meal dinner, however, I, a potential anomaly, have always called this meal lunch. Since it occurred to me that America is surprisingly polarized on the mere name of this meal, I was prompted to research the two names to discover the enigma that is the correct name for the meal of a half concluded day.
Is it possible that the war between lunch and dinner could finally come to an end? Let’s find out by examining their definitions and origins.
Lunch
The word lunch, which is likely the shortened version of luncheon, describes a meal that is eaten at midday.
The origin of luncheon is slightly ambiguous and protracted; it is believed to be an alteration, influenced by lunch (hunk of cheese or bread),of the obsolete nuncheon (light snack) that is from the Middle English nonshench, which is the combination of none (noon) and schench (drink). Schench comes from the Old English scenc, from scencan, meaning to pour out.
Dinner
The word dinner is defined as the chief meal of the day, which is eaten in the evening or at midday.
The origin of dinner is less ambiguous; it is from the Middle English diner (morning meal), from the Old French disner, diner (to dine, morning meal), from the Latin disiunare (to break one’s fast), from disieiunare, which is dis-, denoting reversal, and ieiunium (fast). The Middle English diner meant breakfast or the first big meal of the day, which was generally eaten between 9 AM and noon, though customs have changed and now our biggest meal is often one of the last meals of the day.
Well, it appears that neither the party that calls their midday meal lunch nor the one that calls it dinner is wrong, it could simply boil down to a difference between the times when one’s largest meal is consumed; if one’s largest meal is in the evening, their midday meal is usually labeled lunch, but if their largest meal is at noon, it may be called dinner.
What name did you grow up using to describe the midday meal?
Onward American 
Growing up on a farm, we had dinner at noon. So our day’s meals were breakfast, dinner, lunch (snack), and supper.
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Interesting, that seems to be fairly unique. Thanks for sharing!
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