fast foodn.1
/ˈfɑːst fuːd/, /ˈfast fuːd/, U.S. /ˈfæst ˌfud/ Food that is permitted to be eaten by a person who is observing a period of religious fasting.In later use with conscious reference to fast food n.2, which is the usual use from the 1950s onwards.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > consumables > [noun]
fast fooda1627
the world > food and drink > food > food otherwise characterized > [noun] > Lenten or fast-day food
Lent meata1200
Lenten stuffa1513
Jack-a-Lent1548
Lent stuff1573
Lent provision1615
fast fooda1627
Friday fare1633
a1627 J. Fletcher & T. Middleton Nice Valour iii. i. in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Uuu2v/2 Unlesse't be puddings, Or such fast food, any loose thing beguiles me, I'm nere the better for't.
1847 Illustr. London News 3 Apr. 216/3 Not all the frankincense..upon the altars can annihilate the smell of the fast food as it takes its spiritual flight through the pores.
1885 J. Eggeling tr. Satapatha-Brâhmana II. iii. 37 The eating of the fast-food, consisting chiefly of milk, takes, as it were, the place of the Agnihotra, or evening and morning sacrifice, which he is not allowed to perform during the time of his consecration.
1910 A. Maude Life Tolstoy Later Years i. 12 Fast-food was handed to every one else, and some nice cutlets were served for us.
1990 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 18 Feb. 2 We thought fast foods were what you ate during Lent.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fast foodadj.n.2
/ˌfɑːs(t) ˈfuːd/, /ˌfas(t) ˈfuːd/, /ˈfɑːs(t) fuːd/, /ˈfas(t) fuːd/, U.S. /ˌfæs(t) ˈfud/, /ˈfæs(t) ˌfud/ Originally U.S.
A. adj.
1. Designating a snack bar or restaurant where food is kept hot or partially prepared so that it can be served as a quick meal or taken away; of or relating to such an establishment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food otherwise characterized > [adjective] > relating to convenience food
fast food1951
1951 (title of periodical) Fountain and Fast Food Service.
1952 Fountain & Fast Food July 51/2 He takes over two stores and wants to open a fast food service establishment to handle the heavy volume.
1960 Fast Food July 17/2 Fast food type restaurants do the lion's share of business for breakfast and noon meals eaten out.
1978 Tucson (Arizona) Mag. Dec. 6/3 Nothing but a glorified, garlic-flavored fastfood operation with the poorest example of Italian cuisine.
2020 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 8 Aug. 13 The most common purchases were clothes, shoes and accessories, followed by deliveries from restaurants, fast food chains and catering services.
2. In extended use: designating something obtained or produced quickly and easily, with relatively little expense, effort, or thought; (hence) uniform, standardized.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > uniformity > [adjective] > characterless
unrelieved1673
unfeatured1693
neutral1755
samely1799
unindividuala1834
featureless1839
clueless1862
unbrightened1873
uninterspersed1887
attributeless1894
faceless1936
identikit1963
fast food1977
1977 Sunday Times 20 Nov. (Lifespan Arts section) She is probably more pizza than painter but her fast-food style has created a tremendous appetite for her work in the U.S. (at one time all five of her latest films were running in New York).
1990 N.Y. Newsday 13 Sept. i. 18/1 Crack..has since become the drug of choice for drug users, a fast-food drug, cheap and easy to buy.
2007 New Yorker 29 Oct. 13/2 A fast-food musical without satire yields about as much kick as a day-old Blimpie burger, in Guy Stroman's wearying production.
B. n.2
Food which is kept hot or partially prepared by a snack bar or restaurant, so that it can be served as a quick meal or taken away. Also: convenience food which can be prepared quickly at home. Occasionally as a count noun: a particular example of such food.Esp. in later use, sometimes connoting food which is appetizing but which contains industrially processed ingredients or is of poor nutritional value: compare junk food n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food otherwise characterized > [noun] > convenience food
convenience food1942
fast food1952
1952 (title of periodical) Fountain and Fast Food.
1977 Times 6 June 2/5 ‘Fast food’ requires no preparation by the customer. Traditional ‘fast food outlets’ like fish-and-chip shops are being superseded by Chinese, Indian, Kebab and fried chicken houses.
2001 E. Schlosser Fast Food Nation iii. 66 The decision to stop for fast food is made on the spur of the moment, without much thought.
2020 Canberra Times (Internet ed.) (Nexis) 2 Aug. Many packaged and fast foods which are high in saturated fat are also high in refined carbohydrates.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a1627
adj.n.21951