Re: Preparation of meals --prepare/fix/make/other Let's see if we can obtain an Ayleur consensus (non-unanimous)and not one as to what is exclusively "right and proper" but one which is merely a recognized or an understood usage by various groupings, e.g.:
I cannot , in this format , "make" the following work in true tabular form , but perhaps the idea is clear enough:
HOW WOULD ONE "GET DINNER TOGETHER":
...........................Prepare.....Make......Fix......
USA/AUS,NZ/UK/SUBC/.................................
REGIONAL............................................
URBAN/RURAL.........................................
U/NON-U ...........................................
AU COURANT/OLD-FASHIONED ..........................
TV/RADIO STANDARD USAGE ..........................
PERSONAL CHOICE OF WORD ..........................
I'll cast my vote to start. I would say "FIX" dinner, but "make a cake". That usage is heard in, at least, some parts of USA. 1.(make dinner "sounds" Northern or Western USA to me(or maybe just TVtalk), but may not be. (That is one of the usages about which I am curious.)In fact, fix dinner may be purely Southern "regional" usage), 2."slightly rural"?(tho I live in a city w/ pop. 1MM++), 3."both U and Non-U" here, and perhaps a little 4. "Old-fashioned" e.g. my children(who grew up saying "fix dinner" now say "make dinner" although they still live in this city. This is NOT our most burning issue, but it is a little usage quirk which may prove interesting, esp w/ respect to the usage in the other parts of the English-speaking world.
