Is a big breakfast different from a heavy breakfast?

[tulipflower]

Is a 'big' breakfast different from a 'heavy' breakfast? I mean are the words 'big' and 'heavy' synonyms in this context?

 

[emsr2d2]

Are you possibly mixing it up with a "hearty" breakfast (a common collocation)?

 

[tulipflower]

I saw that in the book 'Speak Now' by Jack. C. Richards & David Bohkle. They have used 'big' and 'small' for breakfast and lunch and 'light' before the word 'meal' like 'light meal' and also in the following sentence:'I'm having a light/heavy lunch.'

I would like to know if 'big' and 'heavy' or 'small' and 'light' can be used interchangeably? I thought 'heavy' and 'light' can also be used for 'breakfast', 'lunch' and 'dinner'.

 

[emsr2d2]

"A heavy meal" is used, and it's usually associated with lunch and dinner, but it doesn't collocate naturally for me with breakfast.

I couldn't sleep last night because I'd had a really heavy dinner.
I fell asleep in the afternoon after a heavy lunch.

 

[PeterCW]

"The Big Breakfast" was a show on daytime TV in the UK.

I wouldn't use "heavy" to describe a breakfast but a "big breakfast" would be the traditional English breakfast with sausage, bacon, egg, mushrooms, black pudding, tomato and fried bread.

 

[emsr2d2]

The official (for want of a better word) name for the breakfast PeterCW described is a "full English breakfast". There's a cafe near me that offers three sizes of that breakfast - "Full English", "Extra Large Full English" and "Mega Breakfast"! They also offer vegetarian and vegan versions of both.

 

[Rover_KE]

'Hearty' usually collocates with 'meal' and 'breakfast', and 'heavy' with 'meal', 'lunch' and 'dinner'.

What difference there is, in my view, is that 'heavy' has negative connotations of gluttony/overeating, whereas 'hearty' – rightly or wrongly – more benevolently implies a more convivial consumption of substantial quantities of nourishing victuals.

 

[Skrej]

A 'heavy' breakfast is commonly used in AmE.

It's somewhat subjective to the individual speaker, but for me 'heavy' means loaded with carbs and/or sugar. It sits 'heavy'* in your stomach - the kind of stuff that makes you a bit drowsy or lethargic after eating. It's the kind of breakfast that fills you up so much you end up skipping lunch later.

It does have negative connotations as opposed to 'big' or 'hearty'. Those are simply large meals, but they don't necessarily sit heavy* in your stomach.

For example, I don't eat pancakes (or waffles) for breakfast, because to me they're too 'heavy'. I generally can't handle sugary foods (including donuts) for breakfast.

I just recently asked a colleague if he wanted to grab an early lunch before our meeting, and his reply was "No thanks, I had kind of a heavy breakfast. I'll eat after the meeting."


*Yes, grammatically it should be 'sit heavily', with an adverb, but the set expression (at least in AmE) is 'sit heavy'