The Linguistic Evolution of Brunch, Boozy, and Crisps

“Brunch” apparently originated as university slang. The Independent reported in 1895, “Breakfast is ‘brekker’ in the Oxford tongue; when a man makes lunch his first meal of the day it becomes ‘brunch’…” Five years later the word had spread far enough for the Westminster Gazette to use it (in quotation marks) as the punchline of a comic poem: “Perish Scrambling breakfast, formal lunch!/Hardened night-birds fondly cherish/All the subtle charms of ‘brunch’.”

The Transatlantic Journey of "Brunch"

“Brunch” took a while to catch on in the United States. The first American citation in the OED is from 1930; as late as 1939, the New York Times felt the need to put the word in quotes and define it as “the present-day phenomenon of the breakfast-luncheon, or ‘brunch,’ as it is affectionately called.” Ngram Viewer shows that right about the time of the Times article, Americans passed Britons in their use of “brunch” and have stayed comfortably ahead ever since.

Defining the "Boozy" Experience

Regarding other shifts, what’s more, round about 2000, Americans stole the British “boozy” and came up with the “boozy brunch,” meaning that for a set price, you can have all the mimosas you want. The repeated use of the adjective “boozy” to describe events made me wonder if the term is a NOOB. I’ll point out, first, that a lot of dictionaries have some catching up to do with regard to “boozy.” The OED, Merriam-Webster.com, Lexico.com, and Dictionary.com all define it as a quality of a person: as Dictionary.com has it, “drunken; intoxicated; addicted to liquor.”

However, newer meanings have emerged. Specifically, it can refer to an alcohol-driven event or experience or be used for “referring to any item, substance, or food that has had booze added or applied to it, thereby greatly enhancing its appeal and/or taste.” The first example of non-personal “boozy” I’ve found is from the House of Lords in 1976, when the Earl of Selkirk said: “I am asking for something which is quite small: that people should be given a little notice before a boozy festival takes place.”

The Difference Between Crisps and Chips

Another interesting distinction is that “Crisps” is what the British call what Americans call potato chips, or simply “chips.” In recent usage, I actually have noticed some American use of “crisps” in recent years — not so much for potato chips, which I think is pretty well entrenched as a term, as for other crunchy, marginally more healthy snack items.

Key Historical Milestones

Year	Linguistic Milestone
1895	The Independent reports on the "Oxford tongue" origins of brunch.
1930	First American citation of "brunch" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
1939	The New York Times defines "brunch" as a breakfast-luncheon phenomenon.
1976	First recorded non-personal use of "boozy" in the House of Lords.
2000	Americans adopt "boozy" to create the popular term "boozy brunch."