This began as British phenomena but certainly spread throughout the world. Eventually, in Australia, tea came to mean a hearty meal in the evening, even though it would be rather a long time before afternoon tea really fell out of fashion. So, it's simply a muddling of terms.
Some people in Britain and Australia refer to their main evening meal as "tea" rather than "dinner" or "supper", but generally, with the exception of Scotland and Northern England, "tea" refers to a light meal or a snack.
Because it's the normal word for the evening meal in some sections of society, mainly in the working class and in the north. Simple as that. In such places, dinner tended to be in the middle of the day and workers came home for it. So later on you have tea.
Chow. Meaning: (Noun) Chow is an informal term for a meal used in certain English-speaking countries. It is often used in Australia as slang for dinner.
Contributor's comments: The word "dinner" was always used to describe the middday meal in the Adelaide region and the word "tea" to describe the evening meal.
If you call your evening meal 'supper' you're officially posh, according to survey. A nationwide study into our the eating habits of British people has settled an ongoing argument about what our evening meal should be called.
Cuppa - a cup of tea or coffer 'Drop by this arvo for a cuppa' means please come and visit this afternoon for a cup of tea or coffee.
Brekky: the first and most important meal of the day, Aussies call breakfast 'brekky'.
A sandwich. Sanger is an alteration of the word sandwich. Sango appeared as a term for sandwich in the 1940s, but by the 1960s, sanger took over to describe this staple of Australian cuisine.
HJs/Hungry Jacks: Burger King.
In New Zealand it's just the way people speak here ,what they are. actually saying is “I will cook dinner “, Also you will hear them invite you to tea “tonight “which actually means ,I'm inviting you for dinner ,just another quirky kiwism…
The evening meal is usually called 'tea', 'dinner' or 'supper'. What is a traditional British Dinner? A typical British meal for dinner is "meat and two veg".
In most parts of the United States and Canada today, "supper" and "dinner" are considered synonyms (although supper is a more antiquated term). In Saskatchewan, and much of Atlantic Canada, "supper" means the main meal of the day, usually served in the late afternoon, while "dinner" is served around noon.
Workers' Compensation pay. Counter lunch / meal : pub lunch. Cozzie : swimming costume.
Dinner is the main meal of the day. If the meal you eat in the middle of the day is your main meal then it can be called either lunch or dinner. There is a tradition among some Australians to have a large family meal at lunch time on Sunday. It is often called Sunday dinner.
“Arvo” directly translates to “afternoon”. You may hear people say “This arvo I'm going to surf,” or ask you “What are your plans this arvo?”
A Jaffle is the Australian name for a closed toasted sandwich. The name came from its creator Dr Ernest Smithers, from Bondi in NSW, who created and patented the Jaffle Iron in Australia back in the 1950's.
See also: 'Dirty Bird' (KFC). “Let's pop into Maccas after the footy.”
Australians use a couple of other colloquial words for a hen's egg. The Australian English word googie or goog is an informal term that dates from the 1880s. It derives from British dialect goggy, a child's word for an egg. A closer parallel to the jocular bum nut, however, is the word cackleberry.
Sheila = Girl
Yes, that is the Australian slang for girl.
Spud. a potato. Spunk. a good looking person of either sex. Sucked in.
Yeah nah yeah = yes.