Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 11:43:21 -0500

From: Gregory {Greg} Downing downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU

Subject: Re: throwed rolls



At 09:40 AM 1/5/98 -0600, you wrote:

Oh yes, and there is no metaphor involved here. There is a restaurant in

Missouri that started this "tradition". The name of the place and town

escapes me now, but the gist of it is that you go in, sit down and the food is

brought to your table in large serving bowls -- like people used to do at home

before we became addicted to the television. A server walks through the

dining area asking if anyone wants a roll. If you raise your hand, the server

then throws you a roll. Hopefully you will catch said roll. I've never been

to the place in Missouri, but I know several folks who have and they all

seemed to enjoy their experience. I'm still into "pass the rolls, please" - I

don't relish the thought of someone throwing anything to me at the dinner

table.



I believe several other places have picked up on this "down-home" type

dining and copied the place in Missouri.





Bonnie Briggs

The University of Memphis





O, I get it now: it's a gimmick, part of a theme restaurant. The formation

"throwed rolls" probably plays off of past-participle/noun collocations used

for particular versions of foods which have undergone a certain action as

part of the food-prep process: filled/stuffed rolls or buns, raised muffins,

beaten biscuits, mashed potatoes, **tossed salad** (maybe that's the joke

here?), etc.



Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu