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