Anyone know the etymology of "bun fight"? If it refers to a social gathering rather than some kind of confrontation maybe it’s one of those droll British terms.
It sounded like it should refer to those bouts of tossing food around in the school cafeteria that we always called "food fights" to me. ;D
I guess it does reflect our quirky sense of humour. :D
I can’t comment on the etymology but it particularly refers to an afternoon buffet style gathering, typically with tea and buns, where the queue turns into a bit of a melee.
I can imagine how it came about if it refers to a buffet, especially if folks can select food from both sides of the table—reaching for the same bun! ;D
oh, I double checked before I posted it,sorry about that.
I’ve never had a bun fight but ive had many food fights and although this may sound strange I had a raw bacon rasher fight with a friend a few years back. I t was just one of those out of hand moments in the kitchen but rather good fun although we had to stop before it got vicious! Im not recommending it by the way. :-[ :-[
I found the bunfight! They seem to have re-ordered their site. Guess I should have mentioned it to you guys back then. Sorry! :-[
Follow: www.birchovervillage.co.uk then Enter the village then click on "Memories" then you will find the bunfight. Enjoy!
[quote author=KatyBr link=board=idiom;num=1046704460;start=15#19 date=04/07/03 at 18:29:25]and I had always labored under the assumption that the British were way too civilized and staid to get into a melee over food.
now This really surprises me:)
After clicking on John‘s link and reading about old village customs, I got the impression that the «fight», if one could call it that, was not so much between the children over the food, but rather between the cooks over the children(‘s eating of the food). But it would seem that they should have called it the «Trifle Fight», rather than the «Bun Fight», as the former played the leading role in the competition….
