- Tiffin
-
For other uses, see Tiffin (disambiguation).
Part of a series on Meals Common meals Breakfast · Brunch · Lunch · Tea · Dinner · Supper Components & courses Amuse-bouche · Appetizer · Cheese · Cocktails · Dessert · Drink · Entrée · Entremet · Fruit · Main course · Nuts · Salad · Side dish Related concepts Banquet · Buffet · Cuisine · Eating · Etiquette · Food · Global cuisines · Outline of cuisines · Snack Tiffin is lunch, or any light meal. It originated in British India, and is today found primarily in Indian English.[1] The word originated when Indian custom superseded the British practice of an afternoon tea, leading to a new word for the afternoon meal.[1] It is derived from the obsolete English slang tiffing, for "taking a little drink or sip".[2] When used for "lunch", it is not necessarily a light meal.[3]:88
In South India and in Nepal, the term is generally used for between-meals snacks: dosas, idlis, etc.[4] In other parts of India, such as Mumbai, the word mostly refers to a packed lunch of some sort, in particular to light lunches prepared for working Indian men by their wives after they have left for work, or for schoolchildren by their parents.[5] In Mumbai, it is often forwarded to them by dabbawalas, sometimes known as tiffin wallahs, who use a complex system to get thousands of tiffin-boxes to their destinations.[6] Tiffin often consists of rice, dal, curry, vegetables, chapatis or "spicy meats".[3]
In addition, the lunch boxes are themselves called tiffin carriers, tiffin-boxes or sometimes tiffins.
See also
References
- ^ a b Michael Quinion, World Wide Words: TIFFIN
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, tiffin
- ^ a b Sarah Murray (2008). Moveable Feasts: From Ancient Rome to the 21st Century, the Incredible Journeys of the Food We Eat (illustrated ed.). Macmillan. pp. 85–108. ISBN 9780312428143. http://books.google.com/?id=HqcwO2JfNsAC&pg=PA85.
- ^ Martin Hughes; Sheema Mookherjee; Richard Delacy (2001). India (illustrated ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 25. ISBN 9781864503289. http://books.google.com/?id=XWXGIQG5fMMC&pg=PA25.
- ^ The Guardian. A Bombay lunchbox (June 24, 2002).
- ^ "Mumbai's amazing dabbawalas". Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20080209025804/http://www.sixsigmainstitute.com/news/sixsigma/2005/11/mumbais-amazing-dabbawalas.html.
External links
A foreigner's experience with an Indian police inspector wife's prepared tiffin
Categories:- Meals
- British English
- Indian cuisine
- Indian English idioms
- Indian slangs
- Indian cuisine stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Tiffin — bezeichnet in der Geografie: Tiffin (Iowa), Stadt im US Bundesstaat Iowa Tiffin (Ohio), Stadt im US Bundesstaat Ohio Tiffin River, Fluss in den USA Tiffin ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Edward Tiffin (1766−1829), amerikanischer… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Tiffin — servido en un dabba … Wikipedia Español
Tiffin — Tiffin, OH U.S. city in Ohio Population (2000): 18135 Housing Units (2000): 7862 Land area (2000): 6.494442 sq. miles (16.820526 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.141731 sq. miles (0.367082 sq. km) Total area (2000): 6.636173 sq. miles (17.187608 sq.… … StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places
Tiffin, IA — U.S. city in Iowa Population (2000): 975 Housing Units (2000): 457 Land area (2000): 2.989005 sq. miles (7.741486 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 2.989005 sq. miles (7.741486 sq. km) FIPS code:… … StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places
Tiffin, OH — U.S. city in Ohio Population (2000): 18135 Housing Units (2000): 7862 Land area (2000): 6.494442 sq. miles (16.820526 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.141731 sq. miles (0.367082 sq. km) Total area (2000): 6.636173 sq. miles (17.187608 sq. km) FIPS… … StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places
Tiffin — Tif fin, n. [Properly, tiffing a quaffing, a drinking. See {Tiff}, n.] A lunch, or slight repast between breakfast and dinner; originally, a Provincial English word, but introduced into India, and brought back to England in a special sense. [1913 … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Tiffin — Tiffin, Hauptstadt der Grafschaft Seneca im Staate Ohio (Nordamerika), am Sandusky River, Knotenpunkt der Mad River Lake Eriebahn u. der Sandusky Indianabahn; 8 Kirchen, Bank, Eisenindustrie; 1821 angelegt, 1853 über 4000 Ew.; fruchtbare,… … Pierer's Universal-Lexikon
Tiffin — Tiffin, Hauptstadt der Grafschaft Seneca im nordamerikan. Staat Ohio, am Sandusky, Bahnknotenpunkt, enthält die reformierte Heidelberg University, Fabrikation von Glas, Topfwaren, Papier, Wollwaren, Wagen, Ackergerät, Getreidehandel und (1900) 10 … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Tiffin — Tiffin, Ort im nordamerik. Staate Ohio, am Sandusky River, (1900) 10.989 E … Kleines Konversations-Lexikon
tiffin — [tif′in] n., vi. [Anglo Ind for tiffing, drinking, hence, by extension, eating < TIFF2] former Brit. term for LUNCH … English World dictionary