Age of Aquarius

I was talking with my friend Marcus the other day and we got into a little debate about what makes breakfast breakfast. Is it the time of day, meaning before 11AM? The combination of food you choose to eat, such as pancakes and eggs? Or is it determined by your sleeping patterns and the first meal you eat after you wake up is therefore called breakfast? If that is the case then how long do you have to sleep before you can call the next meal breakfast? I don't think short naps should count, you need at least 6 hours of sleep separation between meals in order to call the next one breakfast.

Then there's brunch. Brunch is kinda like a really good party, it only happens on weekends and you are usually really hungover afterwards. Now don't get me wrong, I love brunch, but it is a bit indecisive because it is the combination of both breakfast and lunch foods. However time is a predominate factor determining the occurrence of the brunch meal which is usually eaten around 11AM or after. So I guess in that respect brunch is more firm than mere breakfast. Due to the combination of two meals you can't have brunch after lunch hours or else you would be getting into linner (lunch + dinner) and those meals are too similar to combine into one word. I wonder if in the South they refer to brunch as brinner since the midday meal is usually called dinner?

Anyway, I'm not going to pretend that I have all the answers to these perplexing and down right mind boggling questions. I just think it is interesting how many interpretations one word can have, and all the various paths a person can take to arrive at the same end result. Words are a little like a puzzle I suppose, because you can piece together different factors to end with the desired result, like brunch (breakfast + lunch). Well since I don't have any concrete answers for you I think I would like to conclude this post by pronouncing breakfast to be determined by the stomach of the eater.