An extension from my previous elevenses post, I guess you can see where my train of thought then headed ?

Although all these naming conventions for mealtimes exist, most have fallen into disuse or misuse, it is quite likely in the UK today for people to eat at times which are most convenient to them, and three / four square meals a day are no longer necessarily observed. I personally manage around the two significant meals a day mark, at the moment, not good for my glycemic index no doubt? ‘small and often’ is better, much to the contradiction of many other well promoted phrases in use, we being descended from ape browsers who climbed down from the trees, whose natural inclination was too spend much of the day eating to ones content when plenty was available.

At certain points in history, and if you belonged to certain genteel leisure based class groups, it was possible for ones entire day, to be fully occupied and merrily spent observing an unending pleasant parade of mealtimes, that could span rising in the morning, until retiring to bed of an evening, possibly as many as six meals a day, and two prescribed points at which alcohol was specifically imbibed, but only really for a few very privileged people, whose lives were very genteel and who never had to labour.
For instance an extremely genteel itinerary for those born to such a lifestyle might be :

Breakfast
Elevenses
Lunch
Afternoon tea
Sundowner (alcohol)
Dinner
Late Supper
Nightcap (alcohol)

Of course all this over indulgence, would most likely lead to Gout, liver disease, heart attack and an early death.

Sadly … consistent meal times in modern culture are no longer really the norm in the UK. These mealtimes, and rhythm’s of eating and conventions were invented when households and family’s were a great deal more stably structured than they are today in the uk.

RISING at the beginning of the day:

Breakfast : I shall not describe too greatly breakfast, as most cultures of the world agree on the timing of this meal, the first meal of the day, which Breaks the Fasting of the sleep period, during the night (except if one skips breakfast, and partakes of brunch that then being the first meal of the day). In Britain the most known and clearly titled meal consumed at breakfast is the “Traditional English Breakfast”, otherwise known in shortened form as the ‘Full English’, which in these days of muesli with fruit compote and greek yoghurt, seems detrimental from a health perspective, but may in fact, not be as bad for as imagined, as I think the full English pretty much, fits within for instance … the Atkins diet, if not oversized in portion or indulged in to regularly, minus the criminal elements – fried bread etc(which one might class as proper lower class calories) which morally makes the most of and uses of all the fry pan has to offer, having said that the french crouton, seems to get away with the same affair with much regard.

The Consistent elements of the ‘English breakfast’ always seem to circle around the un-argued holy trinity of:
Egg, Sausage, Bacon … yet are not complete complete in the descriptive and much photoed ‘full english’ sense ‘in my view’, without at least in the minimum … grilled tomato and Mushroom

No three element breakfast could ever describe itself, rightfully as the ‘full english’ as such five elements are in my opinion the minimum to claim the title of “full english” or ‘traditional’ let alone the ‘full monty’ moniker which though now much wained is often larger than a full english, with ‘gut buster’ being accurately marketed at gluttons.

but great variation due to locale or custom may often include ‘black pudding’ (blood sausage, the british variant being the tastiest of european equivalents imo), very often ‘fried bread’ (undoubtedly the unhealthiest element), Beans, hash browns (GI based american additions?), very traditional bubble and squeak(leftover mashed potato, green vegetables and sometimes onion … fried into a firm patty or large sloppy Quenelle), scrambled egg, and many more the requisite essentials of a full english will be argued over by those who care till the end of time and vary greatly from place to place. White sausage in Ireland, and even haggis in scotland, and many other regional elements I am no doubt missing out.

In the Victorian and Edwardian era in the upper class genteel exclusive circles and the large, staffed ‘great houses’ of the land, Breakfast was a sumptuous affair more elaborate and involving a greater variety foods than it does today and often even course like elements, a fully laid table might include the following to choose from, in a course like or buffet fashion, starting with fresh fruits especially citrus etc or prunes, the course like elements being kept warm in various silver tureens, Porridge, Kedgeree (a fish and rice … empire import), perhaps warm kippers separately rather than kedgeree, additionally all the elements of an english breakfast that might be imagined for selection to ones plate, sausage, egg, bacon etc etc, these then followed additionally by breakfast pastry’s scotch pancakes, toast fruit jams and compotes and of course all consumed with quality tea. I should state there are very few if any houses or homes in which this standard and extended display of breakfast is still maintained. Of course this in no way reflected the breakfast diet of the common person, as there was a much greater discrepancy in wealth in this period and large numbers of the lower classes were mal-nourished and breakfast might be simple or non existent for the majority.

Elevenses or Elevensies : A light meal most often with tea struck midway/equidistant between breakfast and the midday meal, therefore in a regularised household routine directly at nearby 11.00am but never properly later, a meal post 11:59 could never rightfully be called by virtue of its name elevenses, rarely if ever would anything warm be cooked for elevenses, often served with tea similar to ‘afternoon tea’, as later described. Some may attemptive-ly mis-describe this event as ‘tea’, ‘going for a tea’ or taking a ‘tea break’ all of which, may in no way be classified as ‘Elevenses’. ‘Elevenses’ might rarely even be taken in a garden, though nowhere nearly as much as ‘Afternoon Tea’ which would frequently be taken in a garden in the summer, Elevenses will most often consist of cold light snacks sandwiches etc, combined with tea, but does not contain generally the ‘full sweet edge’ in its fancy’s foods, that ‘afternoon tea’ is so typified by. Also though very often guests maybe invited to ‘Afternoon tea’, elevenses would generally be taken by those resident in the household at the time, and rarely would one invite guests to elevenses, often this would not include the working men of the household, most likely in attendance would be any house guests house wives, young children aunts perhaps. One cannot for instance partake of elevenses in the same way one can go for an afternoon tea.

Elevenses is now an almost extinct mealtime in its genteel form and remains if it exist at all, as a rarefied routine of unusually large houses, and wealthy and genteel households, which have a permanently resident matriarch in charge who runs the household to a very genteel timetable, though elevenses in its origins is supposedly lower class work break, it then crept up the class ladder and became more involved and elaborate, some may well inform us that elevenses in the class of its inception was very simple just biscuit or bread butter and tea and it has certainly returned evolutionarily back to its origin, as the leisure classes and women ensconced at home have evaporated. Back into the much diminished guise of a paltry common or garden mid morning builders bum tea break, but I in my distant youth I did go to a a posh matriarchal well helmed ship of a household, where it was strictly observed and involved thin delicate sandwiches, biscuits and lighter aromatic teas, served within the full trinity of linen silver and china. Though not as extensive or readily cake’y as afternoon tea can become, but certainly allot more than a cup of tea and a biscuit. In the situation of elevenses being served, I very much doubt lunch would have directly followed at say noon but maybe a little later at say one or two or so, elevenses often being a refuelling point for very early rising households, in which much was already done, even by this early point in the day.

(though a mid morning ‘tea break’ or ‘break’ in an office may well be the pale orphan ghost of the real ‘elevenses’ (elevenses is a tradition almost exclusively operated in its fully realised form by people in wealthy and genteel circles) the working class man would probably scoff(an edible pun) at the pomposity of the idea of ‘elevenses’, yet might strike if ‘tea breaks’ at a similar times and more were not observed during the day. In many factories and offices the now mythic roaming Tea Lady and her tea trolley did exist, with all its delights on its lower storey, such as iced buns, eccles cakes, lardy bun or a slice of a madeira etc, such civilities have gone the way of the wind, to be replaced self service coffee machines, which office workers now scurry to, at their own timetable for a hit of caffeine.

Brunch : An Americanism referring to a breakfast and lunch combined, a relatively recent invention stemming from the fast paced urban life, america seems to have visited on the world, often used by those who have perhaps falsely claim not to have time for breakfast, yet can’t let go of the fact they have skipped a meal, journalists, actors artists might brunch communally en masse in a restaurant if they rise in time and extend the whole affair all day if inclined! an uncivilised indictment in any situation for the loss/contraction and concatenation of two meals into one, or for those who have risen late and are much too hungry to wait for lunch, but too late timing wise for the meal to be described as breakfast.

Brunch may not occur later than lunch itself unless one wishes to distort the fabric of time (‘Late brunch’ ridicules this law), if you are partaking of brunch then you cannot rightfully claim to partake of breakfast or lunch that same day, as brunch is mutually exclusive with breakfast and lunch, and once partaken of, you may not consider yourself to have partaken of lunch or breakfast that same day, do not pass go do not take £200. Brunch is not restricted to breakfast foods and may even rarely involve alcohol. A ‘brunch’ and more so ‘late brunch’ is a term effectively for lunch or even late lunch for those late rising types who sadly cannot come to terms with the idea that they are down one meal / skipping breakfast in comparison to others, yet desire to claim their first meal whatever time of day it is taken as a break-fasty type meal and perhaps therefore can choose from breakfast foods or lunch foods without question, self doubt or debate, or the scorn of early risers.

The great … Lunch, dinner , tea debacle : the following lunch tea and dinner sections below must be read as a whole , to get a full understanding of how complicated the possible variation of mealtime naming, post breakfast is in the UK.

Lunch : A meal that is taken around midday, ‘Sunday lunch’ being a traditionally famous variant conducted on Sunday, that may also conversely be rightfully called ‘Roast Dinner’ or “Sunday Roast’ or ‘Roast’. Sadly beyond this time point in the day, the major confusion in English mealtimes occurs from lunch onwards, as depending on locale, class and historical precedent, lunch, dinner or tea may all, in fact be the same meal dependent on who is using the term and in which locale they live.

To clarify this situation it is easier to remember, that though ‘dinner’ may occur at ‘lunchtime’, lunch must always be at around midday, and that though ‘tea’ as per the expression … “going for ones tea” … “me teas on the table” “mams got me tea ready” maybe also in fact be ‘dinner’ this is certainly more the case in the north of England especially in areas where industry flourished where ‘tea’ in fact most often refers to ‘dinner’ or an ‘evening meal’taken post work or pre … a mid evening shift which might in the victorian factory sense be delivered to the worker from the household, though some people might well argue the reverse that southerners have got it wrong, and that dinner must always be a meal in the middle of the day. These eccentric confusions do little, but enhance culture and language, to serve as linguistic flags about upbringing and locale.

I think it is generally agreed ‘Tea’ when it is referred to, may never itself be correctly described as lunch or occur at midday except sadly on sunday mid afternoon, and remember when ‘tea’ is not prefixed by ‘afternoon’ the more northerly you go, it most often refers to an evening meal, and is completely different to ‘afternoon tea’ though down south if someone invites you to ‘tea’, it maybe necessary to clarify what they mean, certainly shops that provide afternoon teas in signage form may often say ‘teas served’ which makes things a little confusing, and it is important when someone invites you to “come to tea” to establish a time for it, as that will tell you whether they mean ‘afternoon tea’ or in fact an ‘evening meal’.

Guests would be more likely invited for Dinner, which might often be outside ones own home such as a restaurant or hall, and be a more formal affair involving guests, this classification though has been blurred. Lunch may or should depending on opinion be accompanied by alcohol, but often since 5 out of 7 lunches occur during a working day, it will be accompanied generally by less or lighter alcohol than later equivalents such as dinner or late luncheon.

Luncheon and Luncheons:
Is the unabbreviated word form of lunch, An organised or formal Luncheon can vary from a meal similar to afternoon tea, to cooked dishes in courses served with wine etc, and whenever you have luncheon it is not then possible to have lunch as well, though it is not, I guess impossible but certainly rare to accidentally have eaten lunch and also be invited to a Luncheon, Luncheon may contain cooked dishes, Luncheon is a meal often involving many people, though it is possible to have luncheon within a household or family context, in this case it is usually no different to having lunch except with guests and used by people within the middle to upper classes to imply lunch, but on a slightly grander social scale, and Luncheon in the context of “Going to a Luncheon” is now most often used to refer a formal lunch, in which many people are invited by an organisation or body of people. Older organisations and company’s might hold late lunches or luncheons, to which guests would be invited. Luncheons may also often involve a buffet style food service arrangement. The charity arena being an area in which Luncheons are infamously held. A formal meal at midday may also rarely confusingly be referred to as a dinner.

Late Luncheon: ‘Late Luncheon’ may extend the concept of ‘luncheon’ or lunch into the late afternoon or even very early evening, the later ‘Late Luncheon’ is, the more likely it is to drop, any ‘Afternoon Tea’ elements if it contained any in the first place. though late luncheon will rarely if ever supplant dinner or tea as the final meal of the day, but any late midday mealtime may perhaps if observed very late in the day, cause any following evening meal by those of the middle to upper classes, squeezed in perhaps as late as 11pm to be referred to as “supper”, perhaps post or pre theatre etc, which is most often in practice less formal and voluminous, than a meal titled by those of said class, as “dinner”.

Nuncheon : An old English mealtime … a lighter meal or lunch not a full meal, taken at or during the noon period, sometimes later than lunch might be and definitely not as heavy, nuncheon has a much more informal personality, often indicative of a meal that is self made, make do or cobbled together and reasonably informal, perhaps during travel, which is where its origin lies in the coachhouses, taverns, and roadside picnic during outdoor work or travel, but most importantly involving the embibe-ment of alcohol, a combination of noon and cheon, ie nuncheon.

The ‘cheon’ part deriving from the old english for ‘drink’ or ‘cup’, and the nun part being a precursor of noon ie ‘noon cup’ or ‘noon drink’ inferring that nuncheon and luncheon both in their origin make specific reference to imbibing drink, though for the labourers or travellers who would have taken nuncheon the drink part being probably more important, but most often would have also involved some form of simple food. Most often field labourers would have taken nuncheon in the field and not in a pub.

nuncheon in my opinion may more easily relate to food eaten casually or outside mid work or whilst journeying. The word duncheon exists as a surname, but im not sure whether this word has ever been used to refer to a mealtime?

The Ploughmans Lunch myth

The ‘ploughmans lunch’ was as a cohesive piece of faux history popularised by the ‘milk marketing board’ to increase cheese sales in the 1960’s, and forced pubs into the Idea of serving proper plates of food at lunchtimes hitherto a haphazardly catered for need, which thankfully to some extent can be thought responsible, for kicking off the whole ‘pub food revolution’. Prior to this point pubs might well have been able, if they could be troubled to, knock you up the odd cheese sandwich, and would often have the odd jar of pickled eggs or onions and sometimes some cold meats on offer, but these snacks in most pubs in the 1930’s were a token gesture towards serving food, to sustain workmen who might otherwise not get a proper meal, but in these days ‘Beer’ was by labourers, considered as important as food, and to some extent drink was also perceived as sustaining, in a way than it is not today, Beer in itself being high in calories. Really the Ploughmans Lunch was a formalising and coalescing of the cold food ingredients that might well have already been in a pubs serving vocabulary, into a named plate of food that could be served like a meal to the patrons of the public house in a marketable way, which up until this point food in a pub had been a casual arrangement whose extent and quality was at the publicans discretion, In a way, things were charmingly relaxed as in there was no formalisation of food being served, but if you had voiced your requirement of vittels to the publican he might often have something to offer, if you were lucky, which would most often be that which was available from the publicans personal provisions, not foodstuffs procured especially for serving to customers, but what it was and how it came, was most often pot luck, rarely would the customer think to the need of choice or selection, nor complain as to what was offered.

A ‘ploughmans’ as the first widely marketed meal in a pub, became known, when done well is surprisingly satisfying – even today. Remember during war all such pre war pub food culture that did exist had been firmly limited for the duration of the war, and its recommencement was probably slow and limited due to extended rationing, to some extent the “ploughmans” was an attempt to formalise those bits that remained and increase cheese sales by the milk marketing board (MMB)

A ploughmans traditionally consists of :

A cold dish of Hunks of Cheese or sliced Cold meats or if luxurient both, Hunks of bread or long rustic rolls with a pat or so of butter and essentially pickles, most often a branston style pickle, and a couple of pickled onions, and a token salad – sliced tomatoes, lettuce possibly a cold boiled egg etc. but can also include other elements like pork pie’s, grapes, celery, carrot, pâté, hard boiled egg, beetroot etc.

But to be honest, in origin the common ingredients of a your average ploughmans, merely formalised, aggregated and referenced those food stuffs, that pubs already had at hand, throughout the country pre war, before the formalization of the title by the MMB post war in an attempt to to garner themselves increased milk sales in the form of cheese etc, whilst providing publicans their first lesson, in marketing a meal widely under title to increase till receipts at lunchtime, a win for both party’s.

A ploughmans could vary quite a bit the main things that remained the core of the dish, were the bread the cheese and the pickle in some form or another whether onion or chutney or both, most important is the rustic nature of the dish that means that most of the items served in a ploughmans must be with little fuss and require a short preparation time, in the dish itself as there was often little time in a between serving customers to allow its preparation by the bar stuff, as chefs resident in pubs was by no means the norm. The ‘ploughmans lunch’ in its pre war unformalised era might have been called the “The ploughboys lunch”. But the marvellous thing about a ploughmans is how they vary depending on where you are, it enables each pub to put its own twist on the idea, but with a central trinity that remains.

Basically the contents of a couple large hearty sandwiches rolls unmade. This being very simple for publicans to knock up at the moment or even pre prepare in the morning and cover, with little need for a cook or chef etc. In the 1970’s pubs which had never really served food, soon started, by offering simple cold dishes like this and then progressed to deep fried basket items, and onward into a situation in which very few pubs indeed, now … could get away without serving food of some sort that requires a chef or a cook to prepare.

Essentially in the 1970’s allot of people were duped into imagining this was a dish traditionally made for a ‘ploughman’, though its heritage is foggier than the marketed dishes name from a pub serving perspective, but the meal served in the field to labourers may well have consisted of these elements in a homemade rustic picnic form.

If you come across an old pub with a run down interior and lots of local characters, sometimes they may still only offer a cheese sandwich or pickles, and this is remnant perhaps of a pub that has never got fully drawn into the food provision game, this might might well be an original survivor pub, whose purely drinking custom has always and until the modern day been enough to sustain it, these pubs are very rare today. Sadly a very large number of historic pubs have been ruined by modernisation and the ubiquitous, uniformly and seemingly by default appended Thai restaurant’s, much to the detriment of the pubs historical interior.

Pubs now due to market pressures, really have to offer food today, as the consistency of post work drinking patterns has to some extent wained, and this in turn perhaps caused by the post war coercing of women into work and two working wages being the requirement for house ownership, and the diminishment in turn of women resident during the day in a household, and subsequently the regularised mealtimes that flowed from such domestic arrangements, also allowed men to directly turn to the pub first from work, and thence home only in time for a dinner pre-prepared at an arranged time by their wives. So this provision of pub food was probably deemed unnecessary by the majority who had historically settled into to such standardised domestic arrangements.

Pub chains providing food, has in turn probably had its greatest detrimental impact on late opening simple cafes, which use to survive in towns and larger villages, though expendable income to be spent on eating out since the 1930’s versus eating at home has greatly increased. And Pubs that don’t serve food may find it difficult to draw enough passing trade and may depend on local drinkers only.

Picnic : I guess its important to mention ‘picnics’, even though they themselves aren’t a specific mealtime, though they always refer to a portable meal taken outside most often at the more hospitable and warmer times of the year, picnics are not only for lunchtime, it also possible to have picnics at other times, for instance in the early evening, or even possibly for the most eccentric as a late supper under starlight in summer, sometimes outdoor concerts maybe held in the evening in the summer in which one might bring an elaborate picnic.

Afternoon Tea: is most often a semi informal event, though it can be formal such as The queens ‘Garden Party’, being a very elaborate form of outdoor / tented ‘afternoon tea’. It must of course involve the brewing and serving of tea, and is typified, by a selection of sandwiches, especially and most infamously little triangular cut or baton cut crustless and signature cucumber sandwiches, followed by an array of sweet cakes, pastries and biscuits to be consumed with the tea. Afternoon tea should be taken from 2:15-3:45, and not generally be taken later than 4.00pm , as this runs to close to the wind of becoming ‘high tea’ which is really an early evening meal. as ‘afternoon tea’ has a witching hour beyond which it cannot exist, hence the reason why all cream tea shops must close their doors before the possibility of someone elsewhere in the land serving an evening meal, though strangely tea may be drunk with any meal and at any time in certain class groups and areas. As an evening meal called ‘tea’ may often include a cup of tea. If one had an expansive afternoon tea or luncheon, it might be possible to skip dinner or tea and go straight for a light supper.

Sundowner : though not a meal time, is a rarer item … a specifically prescribed time for a drink, an expression from colonial times , that refers to the first drink at the end of ones working day, taken before the evening meal, receiving its name from the implication it was a drink to be taken whilst the sun set, and possibly quite literally watching the sun set whilst drinking, one can be invited to a sundowner, which does not imply eating of any sort, but from a sundowner one might well be invited or proceed to dinner or supper with those involved in the sundowner. A Sundowner is also a recognised cocktail. Sundowner is one of only two terms I know for a drink taken at a specific time. though an entire and extensive article could be dedicated to a description of phrases related to partaking of drink.

Dinner : probably historically, a “dinner” referred to grand meal in a hall, but it now refers to the main meal of the day in its casual sense, for some people ‘dinner’ can be anytime between the midday meal or the evening meal. In its formal sense it refers so a social event in which many people attend, and people are often invited to a dinner. Though generally I would state that dinner is more often than not, a late lunch if it occurs at lunchtime at all, and has the vibe of the evening about it, and may often be accompanied by more alcohol than lunch might be, though it is possible for an informal meal taken midday to be called dinner in some class groups and those people would often call their evening meal a ‘tea’.

Meat Tea: is a hybrid antiquated word for an early evening mealtime generally from 3-8pm, always to be found post ‘afternoon tea’ if it occurs, that at its heart involves the imbibing of tea with a full meal in whichever form it takes. That could suffice as a coarse afternoon tea and an evening meal in one hit, and generally would contain similar cold food or pre-cooked elements sliced meats bread etc as a rustic work-alike style afternoon tea and involved less cooking than a full dinner. The expression of ‘meat tea’ has now faded from current use, and when in use was observed by working class persons on return from work, whether farm labourer or factory worker and would suffice in that case as the evening meal. Farmers at one point might of had a ‘meat tea’ or ‘tea'(read evening meal) awaiting them at the farm house, post their farm rounds as early as 3-5pm due the very early bed and early commencement of their working day.

Whereas as the phrase ‘High Tea’ was only really in circulation in of suspected the higher classes and expensive tea rooms self promotion. , Meat tea or high tea may rarely also be followed by a simpler late supper. The name of ‘meat tea’ was used to imply its more substantial nature in comparison to ‘afternoon tea’, involving dishes such as welsh rarebit, cold meats, pies, omelletes, fish, eggs, sandwiches, and ‘meat tea’ or ‘high tea’ was linguistically truncated and evolved into the evening mealtime known as ‘tea’ to the lower classes ? The High element in ‘High Tea’ most often referred to, a formal meal perhaps like afternoon tea style meal but embellished warm dishes also, at a well ordered table, in comparison to a less formal meal in the working day that was meat tea.

‘High tea’ as used by the upper classes is sometimes now used to imply a rarely observed evening meal whose constituent elements involve the elements of tea or afternoon with simple meal like elements that do not involve considerable cooking or preparation. Some expensive schools made use of the phrase ‘High Tea’, to express a meal more formal than the normal version of ‘tea’ / ‘afternoon tea’ pupils might observe, later in the day perhaps in replacement of an evening meal, in the reference frame of schools such meals might involve the attendance of important people such as masters or school guests.

Tea : An informal simple evening meal often used and originally invented, when referring to a meal that is prepared for and awaiting one, at the return from work, or in childhood years school or play, tea being a term in more general use by the lower classes as a name for the evening meal, originally descendant as a lower class form of ‘afternoon tea’ called ‘High tea’ because it was taken on return from work at a table, as ‘afternoon tea’ was generally only taken by those of the leisurely classes. Though ‘tea’ is now often prepared after arriving home from work, such is the misery of modern life, where there are no longer the ever resident empress matriarchs of the household, to maintain the comforting genteel archaic rhythms of eccentrically supernumerary mealtimes.

These mealtimes that end in tea apart from afternoon tea, have some considerable variation in timing, constituent food elements, class, formality and locality based variation. Though all meals that involve the word ‘tea’ often involve the drink itself being included with the meal, even though it is perhaps an evening meal and rarely if ever involves alcohol, excepting perhaps the upper class variation of high tea that may involve the additional or replacement consumption of alcohol

‘Supper’ or ‘Late supper’ or ‘Light supper’: The latest of possible meal times, supper is thankfully generally conducted in the evening time and possibly quite late within the evening even as late s 10pm but generally finished before 11pm etc, often used to describe a meal following an after work leisure event, visiting a gallery or theatre etc, and is usually the latest possible meal before bed time, supper is also usually referred to when one is having a smaller, simpler meal, a less formal meal than say dinner, and most often at home or in a restaurant, the upper to middle classes for instance might invite guests to a supper, but it is often to be understand that less effort will be put into its preparation than a dinner. Supper in certain northern areas is used to refer to a meal prepared after returning from work at the end of the day in the same way that ‘tea’ is, as in “going home for my supper” or northerly colloquially pronounced perhaps as “gawin hame for me supper”

Scran and more rarely ‘scoff’: a casual term referring to a casual meal or food one is going to eat, not specific to a certain mealtime though most often in reference to an evening meal, tea or snack, in use in the north of England the navy and mainly Scotland, often when referring to an informal meal prepared at home or eaten out from an informal source. ie “im going hame/da toon to get me scran”( hame = home, toon = town), scran has implications of food for sustenance, rather than fine dining. The way in which scran is used ‘scoff’ may rarely also be used in a similar way, ie in the expression ‘im going to eat me scoff’ or even very rarely I have heard ‘nosh’ being referred to, but most often ‘nosh’ refers to the active pursuit of eating as in ‘im gonna gnosh me dinner and ill be right there’, scoff originated by referring to eating the ration or food originally in a military sense one has at hand or is provided with to sustain oneself, and scoff in its main use is an expression used to describe eating hastily, as I sometimes find military men especially cannot get out of the habit of speed eating, ‘vittels’ could also fall into the same category.

Scran though definitely not formal dining, may refer with fondness to a food one knows well, regularly eats and desires or likes as in its ‘good scran’ ie good food, often food prepared by a matriarch in the home in which one lives, the mother or wife etc might prepare regularly, scran can refer to foods one takes for sustenance and eat at a less than genteel pace so that some other activity may be commenced or recommenced afterwards, in the same way that someone may often indicate they have to ‘go home and get their ‘tea’ first before meeting up or re-convening later in the same day.

Scran can also often refer to fast food purchases from informal eateries, pie vans at football grounds, chippy’s (fish and chip shops) etc but was originally used with reference to traditional foods of an english cultural origin, though this may now be used to refer to foods eaten from most of the faster food establishments. The german equivalent of scran when referring to fast food, might well cover say ‘currywurst’, which Is the german equivalent of say fish and chips, scran might be a good hot pie, as might be served from many informal establishments.

‘Tea breaks’ or ‘coffee break’ of course maybe fitted in anywhere throughout a working day, but may only really be included once or twice a day without being considered a hindrance on work ? once either mid morning or afternoon or both, this was once such a tradition in larger institutions or businesses of this period that a floral aproned ‘tea lady’ might well have been afforded by a civilised business, who would roam a large business pushing or pulling a large trolly serving hot tea to all from an urn, with biscuits, buns and slices at a push etc enabling us to keep on working at our stations. sadly ‘Tea ladys’ have to all intent and purposes disappeared from english culture due to the iniquity’s of economic global competition, and the ubiquity of takeaway coffee establishments etc and the reduced civility of existence, I deeply mourn their passing and feel their loss and hold a torch for their return in more civilised and societally cohesive times. I have been fortunate enough to a number of times in my youth, experience the charms of a tea lady in the tail end of their era and this even for my childhood should be considered an extreme rarity.

Snacks and takeaways though not specific mealtimes can be enjoyed and sneaked in most times of day and may substitute in an increasingly uncivilised segregated and less family group orientated culture, for meals and mealtimes. large numbers of families in Britain today middle class and below may be found to eat their evening meal in front of the TV, america being the origin of the TV dinner, and allot of the pre-prepared microwave meals today, can be considered the progeny of the originally american marketed tv dinner. Though in america they went as far to include pudding also in the military style tray meal.

Night cap : a last drink of the evening returning home or retiring to bed, most often and almost exclusively referring to an alcoholic drink.

more drink related moments

‘One for the road’ pal, the idea of a last drink before ones journey home, by whatever means foot, bike or car etc.

A Snifter or Sherbet : eg ‘fancy a quick snifter’ an often lower class informal offer of a spontaneous quick / cheekily squeezed in drink often perhaps in the form of a swig of spirits from a proffered bottle / flask or cup taken any time dependant on social situation. Such offers as with any offer of alcohol may turn into a ‘session’

A Stiffener or Sharpener being a marginally less lower class equivalent of snifter etc in preparation or expectation of something or following / ensuing activity.

‘session’, ‘quick session’ or ‘a quick sesh’ the offer of several rounds of drinks, with the intent of drinking vigorously perhaps within a time constraint, with the implied aim of perhaps getting at least tipsy if not most often, full on drunk. a person who invites you to a session will often play down exactly how much drinking may actually occur, be warned there intent by this offer is usually with the aim of drinks in quick succession, which often leads to being ‘completely trolleyed’.

RETIRING TO BED at the end of the day, preferably not with heart burn, indigestion from too much food and a severe case of roller coast head spin swim as soon as ones eyes close and head hits the pillow.