6 Ways To Divide England Linguistically

Map created by Starkey ComicsThe map above is an overly simplified way to divide England linguistically.

Ryan who runs Starkey Comics and created the map says:

Author Note: This is one of the first images I ever made, I have since remade all of these maps (and many more) with far more accuracy and precision. This still works as a meme, but I am not at all happy with it as an informative map. Check out this website for all my other maps and images about linguistics.

Here are some more accurate versions of the maps he’s created along with explanations:

Dinner vs Tea vs Supper

The terms tea, dinner, and supper are used differently across the UK, and their meanings often vary depending on region, social class, and context.

Here’s a breakdown of their typical usages:

1. Tea

• Primary Meaning: In many parts of the UK (especially in northern England, Scotland, and working-class households), tea refers to the evening meal, typically served between 5 and 7 PM.
  • Example: “What’s for tea tonight?” (What’s for dinner?)
• Secondary Meaning: In all regions, tea also refers to the drink itself, often accompanied by light refreshments (e.g., biscuits or cake). This is afternoon tea or high tea:
  • Afternoon tea: A light meal or snack served around 3–4 PM, typically with sandwiches, scones, and cakes.
  • High tea: A more substantial meal, historically eaten by working-class families after work, combining elements of dinner with tea.

2. Dinner

• Primary Meaning: Generally, dinner is considered the main meal of the day, but when this is eaten varies:
  • Lunch (midday): In southern England and among the middle and upper classes, dinner traditionally refers to a more formal, midday meal.
    • Example: “The school serves dinner at noon.”
  • Evening meal: In other parts of the UK, particularly northern England and among working-class communities, dinner can refer to the evening meal.
    • Example: “Are you coming over for dinner tonight?”
• Special Occasions: Dinner is often used to describe formal meals, regardless of the time, such as Christmas dinner or a dinner party.

3. Supper

• Primary Meaning: Supper is typically a light evening meal, often eaten later in the evening than tea or dinner (e.g., around 8–10 PM).
  • Example: “I’ll just have a light supper before bed.”
• Secondary Meaning: In some contexts, especially in more traditional or rural areas, supper can replace dinner as the main evening meal term.
  • Example: “We’ll have supper at 7 PM.”
• Light Snack: Sometimes supper refers to a late-night snack or drink before bedtime.

Regional and Social Nuances

• North vs. South:
  • In the North, tea is the most common term for the evening meal, while in the South, dinner is more prevalent.
• Class Distinctions:
  • Working class: More likely to use tea for the evening meal.
  • Middle/upper class: More likely to use dinner for the evening meal and reserve tea for the drink or a specific meal/snack like afternoon tea.

Examples of Usage

• “We have dinner at 6 PM” (Southern England/middle-class usage for evening meal).
• “The kids are having school dinner” (formal midday meal in schools).
• “What’s for tea tonight?” (Northern/working-class usage for evening meal).
• “Let’s meet for afternoon tea at the Ritz.” (Refined social occasion).
• “We’ll just have a quick supper after the play.” (Light late evening meal).

Tig vs tag

What do you call a lump of bread?

From the author:

In the UK, and especially England, we have an incredible variety of names for the humble medium-sized-bread-lump.
While roll, barm and bap are the 3 most common, there are many rarer and weirdly specific words found in different regions.

In Coventry or the Wirral Peninsula, they call it a “batch”. In South Yorkshire you will hear “bread cake”. Cross over to West Yorkshire you’ll hear “tea cake”, which is also common in parts of Cumbria. In the the the rest of the UK however, a tea cake is the name for a sweet bun with raisins in!
In Northumberland they usually say “bun”, or maybe “bap”, unless it’s large and flat, which makes it a “stottie”. In Lancashire they have a similar thing, but they call it an “oven bottom.

Then there are the many other names for slightly different types of bun, and when you start putting food inside the name can change again, to buttie, or sarnie, or many others.

Here I have tried to display the average word for a medium-sized-bread-lump, by region. Of course it can vary from person to person, but this is a great example how much the dialects of Britain can change as you travel about.

Scone vs scone

This is a rather simpler one, do you pronounce scone that rhymes with alone or scone that rhymes with gone. This map over simplifies things a bit as you can see in this more detailed: How Do You Pronounce “Scone?” – Map of the UK and Ireland

Put vs Putt

This is a slight variation in the of the map at the top. Basically does ‘but’ rhyme with ‘put’ or not.

The reason for this split lies in the evolution of the English language. Between 1100 and 1500, people in England spoke “Middle English,” a predecessor to the modern standard English used today.

In Middle English, words like foot, strut, put, but, sun, and butter all shared the same vowel sound, which can be represented using the phonetic symbol ʊ.

Over time, however, this vowel sound began to change in southern England. A new vowel sound emerged, represented by the symbol ʌ, and replaced the original ʊ in many words.

As a result, words like /fʊt/, /strʊt/, /pʊt/, /bʊt/, /sʊn/, and /bʊtə/ transformed into /fʊt/, /strʌt/, /pʊt/, /bʌt/, /sʌn/, and /bʌtə/ in southern dialects.

This linguistic change is known as the “Foot-Strut Split.” When the colonial era spread English to other parts of the world, the split became a feature of nearly all English-speaking countries outside Britain and Ireland.

However, in northern England and certain areas of Ireland, the split never occurred, and these words continue to share the same vowel sound.