
There’s a new, very specific North/South divide map based on whether you say ‘dinner’ or ‘tea’
Lincolnshire and Shropshire are in the North, apparently
The North/South divide is one of the defining debates of our nation, riling up Northerners and Southerners alike. No-one has ever managed to figure out exactly where the North is.
Some professor from Sheffield Uni thought he'd cracked it, but we weren't convinced so decided to do our own research and try and sort the issue once and for all by mapping the divide using Greggs stores.
Well, the dilemma is now being taken even more seriously as we finally have an official answer, from THE GOVERNMENT.
After analysing over 42,000 English citizen and asking them whether they call their evening meal 'dinner' (Southern) or 'tea' (Northern), YouGov have created a map showing the dividing line of people who use each word.
The results are revealing and hopeully put this age-old debate to bed once and for all.
Dinner seems most popular in the home counties of the south, of course, with the top 'dinner' counties including East Sussex, Essex and Kent.
The top 'tea' counties, home to only true Northerners, include Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear (Newcastle) and Merseyside (Liverpool).
Across England as a whole, dinner is used the most, with 57 per cent of the population using the word, while only 36 per cent say tea.
The remainder of the sample call their evening meal something else, including 5 per cent of the country who are weirdos and call it supper.
The dividing line becomes blurred in the Midlands, where residents have an internal struggle over what to call their evening meal. People only favour dinner or tea marginally in each county, which leads to a lighter colouring on the map.
Lincolnshire and Shropshire are northern by virtue of preferring to call it tea, whereas Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire say dinner just enough to remain in the South.
Naysayers of the new divide may be quick to dismiss this distinction as classism. However, YouGov also provided analysis for the class background of those who say dinner or tea and it becomes quickly evident that it does not matter at all.