1

Dinner is a term with several meanings.

Dinner è un termine con diversi significati.

2

Around North America in general, dinner may be a synonym of supper – that is, a large evening meal.

Nel nord America in generale, dinner può essere sinonimo di supper (cena) – termine che descrive un abbondante pasto serale.

3

However, in parts of Canada and the United States, dinner can be a synonym of lunch, with the evening meal in turn called supper.

Tuttavia, in zone del Canada e degli Stati Uniti, dinner può essere sinonimo di lunch (pranzo), denominando quindi supper il pasto della sera.

4

For the most part these terms only persist in rural areas, particularly in the Southern United States and among older Americans.

Prevalentemente questi termini permangono solo nelle zone rurali, in particolar modo negli Stati Uniti del sud e tra la popolazione americana più anziana.

5

In the United Kingdom, dinner traditionally meant the main meal of the day.

In Inghilterra, dinner tradizionalmente descrive il pasto principale della giornata.

6

Because of differences in custom as to when this meal was taken, dinner might mean the evening meal (typically in the higher social classes) or the midday meal (typically in lower social classes, who may describe their evening meal as tea).

Per via dei differenti momenti in cui può essere consumato, il dinner  può rappresentare il pasto serale (tipico nelle classi sociali più elevate) o il pasto del mezzogiorno (tipico nelle classi sociali inferiori, che possono chiamare tea il pasto serale). 

7

There is sometimes snobbery and reverse snobbery about which meaning is used.

A volte c’è del snobismo e del snobismo al contrario sul significato usato.

8

Large formal evening meals are invariably described as dinners (hence, also, the term dinner jacket which is a form of evening dress.)

La gran parte dei pasti serali formali sono sempre descritti con il termine dinner (da qui, anche il termine *dinner jacket descrive una tipologia di abito da sera.)

*dinner jacket = smoking   

9

However, ambiguity is often avoided altogether by using lunch for the midday meal and supper for the evening meal, neither of which can be misunderstood.

Tuttavia, l’equivocità è spesso del tutto evitata usando la parola lunch per il pasto del mezzogiorno e supper per il pasto serale, nessuno dei due può essere frainteso.

10

School dinners is a British phrase for school lunches.

School dinners è una espressione inglese che descrive i pranzi scolastici. 

11

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word "dinner" referred to breakfast in Middle English.

Secondo l’American Heritage dictionary, la parola dinner è  riferita alla colazione nel periodo del Medio inglese.

12

A more formal definition of "dinner", especially outside North America, is any meal consisting of multiple courses.

Una interpretazione più formale di dinner, specialmente oltre i confini del Nord America, descrive quei pasti composti da molteplici portate.    

13

The minimum is usually two but there can be as many as seven.

Solitamente sono minimo due, ma possono arrivare anche fino a sette. 

14

Possible courses are:

Le possibili portate sono:

15

• Hors d'oeuvres (also known as appetizers, starters)

• Antipasti (chiamati anche appetizers, starters)

16

• Soup course

• Portata di zuppa

17

• Fish course

• Portata di pesce

18

• Salad course

• Portata di insalata

19

• Main course (also known as meat course)

• Portata principale (chiamata anche *meat course)

*meat course = portata di carne

20

• Dessert course (also known as the Sweet or pudding course)

• Dessert (chiamato anche dolce o pudding course)

21

• Cheese course

• Portata di formaggio

22

Some confusion is caused by the word entrée, which is used in North America for the main course, but which was originally one of the earlier courses (most likely the fish course, when the main dish was red meat).

Un pò di confusione è data dalla parola entrée, la quale nel Nord America viene usata per la portata principale, ma che era impiegata originariamente per descrivere una delle prime portate (probabilmente la portata di pesce, quando il piatto principale era la carne rossa).

23

In French, les entrées are the appetisers, and entrée is a somewhat pretentious word in Great Britain for the same thing ("starters" is more commonly seen).

In Francia, les entrées sono gli antipasti, ed entrée è la parola che in Gran Bretagna descrive, in modo un po’ pretenzioso, la stessa portata (è più comunemente chiamato starters).   

24

Dinner is generally followed by tea or coffee, sometimes served with mint chocolates or other sweets, or with brandy or a digestif.

Il dinner è generalmente seguito da un tea o un caffè, a volte servito con cioccolato alla menta o altri dolci, oppure con un brandy o un digestivo. 

25

When dinner consists of many courses, these tend to be smaller and to be served over a longer time period than a dinner with only two or three courses.

Quando il dinner è composto da più portate, queste tendono ad essere più scarse e ad essere servite in un periodo di tempo più lungo di un dinner della durata di due o tre sole portate.

26

Dinners with many courses tend to occur at formal events such as dinner parties or banquets.

Dinners con più portate tendono ad essere svolti in eventi formali come ad esempio pranzi con invitati o banchetti.

27

This formal version of the meal is generally served in the evening, starting some time between 7.30 and 8.30 (in the Netherlands typically at 6.00).

Questo pasto in versione formale è generalmente servito alla sera, e comincia pressapoco tra le 19.30 e le 20.30 (in Olanda solitamente alle 18.00).

28

It may be served at midday or shortly afterwards.

Può essere servito a mezzogiorno o poco dopo.

29

However this tends to be more common practice in Scotland than in other countries.

Tuttavia questa abitudine tende ad essere più presente in Scozia piuttosto che in altri paesi.

30

History

Storia

31

In England during the mid-17th century, dinner was served at any time between 11 am and 12 noon and was a rich, heavy, alcoholic meal that lasted for anything up to 3 or 4 hours.

In Inghilterra nella metà del 17esimo secolo, il dinner era servito in qualsiasi momento tra le 11 del mattino e mezzogiorno ed era un ricco, pesante ed alcolico pasto che, compreso di tutto, durava fino a 3, 4 ore.

32

After the meal proper, the men would stay at the table to smoke, chat, and drink, while the women would retire to a boudoir to talk, sew, and brew tea.

Dopo l’adeguato pasto, gli uomini si sarebbero seduti al tavolo a fumare, conversare e bere mentre le donne si sarebbero ritirate nel salottino privato delle signore per conversare, cucire e preparare il tea.

33

Then during the 18th century, dinner was served at a gradually later and later time until by the early 1800s, the normal time was between 7:00 and 8:30 pm and an extra meal called luncheon had been created to fill the midday gap.

In seguito, durante il 18esimo secolo il dinner venne servito progressivamente sempre più tardi fino ai primi del 1800 dove l’orario usuale si stabilì tra le 19.00 e le 20.30 ed un pasto supplementare chiamato luncheon fu introdotto per colmare la pausa del mezzogiorno. 

Dinner is a term with several meanings.

Around North America in general, dinner may be a synonym of supper – that is, a large evening meal.

However, in parts of Canada and the United States, dinner can be a synonym of lunch, with the evening meal in turn called supper.

For the most part these terms only persist in rural areas, particularly in the Southern United States and among older Americans.

In the United Kingdom, dinner traditionally meant the main meal of the day.

Because of differences in custom as to when this meal was taken, dinner might mean the evening meal (typically in the higher social classes) or the midday meal (typically in lower social classes, who may describe their evening meal as tea).

There is sometimes snobbery and reverse snobbery about which meaning is used.

Large formal evening meals are invariably described as dinners (hence, also, the term dinner jacket which is a form of evening dress.)

However, ambiguity is often avoided altogether by using lunch for the midday meal and supper for the evening meal, neither of which can be misunderstood.

School dinners is a British phrase for school lunches.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word "dinner" referred to breakfast in Middle English.

A more formal definition of "dinner", especially outside North America, is any meal consisting of multiple courses.

The minimum is usually two but there can be as many as seven.

Possible courses are:

• Hors d'oeuvres (also known as appetizers, starters)

• Soup course

• Fish course

• Salad course

• Main course (also known as meat course)

• Dessert course (also known as the Sweet or pudding course)

• Cheese course

Some confusion is caused by the word entrée, which is used in North America for the main course, but which was originally one of the earlier courses (most likely the fish course, when the main dish was red meat).

In French, les entrées are the appetisers, and entrée is a somewhat pretentious word in Great Britain for the same thing ("starters" is more commonly seen).

Dinner is generally followed by tea or coffee, sometimes served with mint chocolates or other sweets, or with brandy or a digestif.

When dinner consists of many courses, these tend to be smaller and to be served over a longer time period than a dinner with only two or three courses.

Dinners with many courses tend to occur at formal events such as dinner parties or banquets.

This formal version of the meal is generally served in the evening, starting some time between 7.30 and 8.30 (in the Netherlands typically at 6.00).

It may be served at midday or shortly afterwards.

However this tends to be more common practice in Scotland than in other countries.

History

In England during the mid-17th century, dinner was served at any time between 11 am and 12 noon and was a rich, heavy, alcoholic meal that lasted for anything up to 3 or 4 hours.

After the meal proper, the men would stay at the table to smoke, chat, and drink, while the women would retire to a boudoir to talk, sew, and brew tea.

Then during the 18th century, dinner was served at a gradually later and later time until by the early 1800s, the normal time was between 7:00 and 8:30 pm and an extra meal called luncheon had been created to fill the midday gap.