bun fight

plural bun fights · alternative bunfight · alternative bun-fight

1. idiomaticA debate or disagreement, usually with several parties involved, often political in nature.

   “Nigerian politics is one big bun-fight over oil money,” says Antony Goldman, a consultant.

   2011 May 26, Steve Lohr, “Nigeria's prospects: A man and a morass”, in Economist, retrieved 21 Aug 2014

   3 more examples

   "Our interest in the thing is all lackadaisical, a kind of bun-fight of pet notions. There's no real steam."

   1915, John Galsworthy, chapter 25, in The Freelands

   [O]ne of the big new hits on the Web is a silly, two-minute satire of the current Republican-Democrat bun fight, starring President Bush and Senator John Kerry as animated cutout figures.

   2004 July 26, “A Duet That Straddles the Political Divide”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Aug 2014

   The debate over public service funding turned into a bun fight, says the communications minister.

   2008 November 24, Jane Martinson, “'We've had enough thinktankery'”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 21 Aug 2014

2. UKslangA formal tea party or other social gathering, especially one at which food is served.

   [T]he cineastes […] will descend on that shabby little seaside town in the south of France for the 50th Cannes bun fight.

   1997 February 20, Geoffrey Macnab, “Film Review: Africannes...”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 21 Aug 2014

   3 more examples

   ... a party - afternoon bunfight, you know. A lot of young men in long frock-coats glued to the door-posts, so limp, poor things, and all the women drinking tea by themselves and longing for the young men.

   1892, Campbell McKellar, “Judy on Society”, in A Jersey Witch, page 87

   "Most people don't bother to go to those big ‘bun fight’ receptions anymore," said the spouse of an administration official.

   2002 August 17, Elizabeth Becker, James Dao, “A Washington Must: Embassies With Élan”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Aug 2014

   The rocky introduction of the EU’s entry-exit system (EES) has, in places, turned the queues into a fraught six-hour bunfight, as the bloc’s border officers take down non-citizens’ biometrics.

   2026 June 20, “Boats, bankers and borders: five symbols that sum up Brexit a decade on”, in The Guardian, →ISSN