The meaning of "a mean supper"

Hello,

While watching a TV movie, I heard “a mean supper” but I don’t get the meaning of it.

“Though we have faith and reasonable hope for forgiveness, we must each face the fact that our actions create a banquet of consequences. In your case you may think this is a mean supper, but you chose it. If your mother were alive, she’d think this is best.”

In the context, the speaker is a reverend and the father of the listener, Livvy. In 1940’s of America, she is pregnant out of wedlock and he arranges her marriage to a stranger. The italic “this” means the arraged marriage. Livvy is not happy with his idea.

Since Livvy’s father is a reverend, I thought “a mean supper” is a kind of words in Chiristianity. I did a search for the phrase in the Bible but I couldn’t find it. Or I thought “a mean supper” is a kind of a meal of terrible food in prison – probably he considers her a sinner. I’d like to know what it really means. What do you think?

Thanks in advance,
sweetpumpkin

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This is not a normal saying. I’ve never heard it before. So I can only guess at the meaning.

There are several idioms and metaphors concerning eating or food.

Bite off more than one can chew
A lot to swallow
A lot to digest
A bitter pill to swallow
Food for thought

In this case I think “supper” is a metaphor for the consequences mentioned earlier. So a mean supper might refer to the negative consequences of the person’s actions.

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I believe I have heard this a long time ago, and then as a throw back to another time. I believe “a mean supper” would be an unsatisfying meal or, by extension, something considerably less than you would expect or hope for.

“In your case you may think that this banquet you created is a poor meal, but you chose it.”
or
“In your case you may think that this life you have created for yourself is a rotten lot, but it is the one that your actions led to.

You can see how the author is describing your actions as creating a banquet, but then using the “mean supper” phrase to describe it.

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In my view, a mean supper refers to a meal ordinary, base or poor in nature.

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