Monday 1 August 2022 06:12 PM Bread roll, bun or bap? Scientists reveal Britain's favourite term for its ... trends now
A debate that splits the country like no other - what do you call your lunchtime loaf?
These miniature, round loaves have claimed a variety of somewhat regional names, with carb-enthusiasts resolute that their denomination is the 'correct' one.
Researchers from Lancaster, York and New York universities have collated each of its titles to discover where each one originated, as part of a study on dialects in Britain.
This included the 'bap' and 'bun', as well as lesser known terms like 'cob', 'batch' and 'barm cake'.
After questioning more than 14,000 native English speakers, the most popular name was 'bread roll'.
The survey also asked participants their preferred term for evening meal, and determined the North-South divide by how they pronounced 'cut' and 'foot'.
Responses to the question 'What is your word for a small round bread?' Light yellow areas represent respondents who selected the indicated variant
Bread roll is a term used widely in England, southern Wales and Scotland, whereas bap was the favourite of North Wales, the West Midlands and Staffordshire
Bread roll is a term used widely in England, southern Wales and Scotland, whereas bap was the favourite of North Wales, the West Midlands and Staffordshire.
Cob dominates in the East Midlands around Nottinghamshire and Derby, and the niche term batch heard only in Coventry and Liverpool.
The North of England gave the largest variation of terms, with North East claimed bun was the only acceptable term, while barm was also popular in Liverpool and Manchester.
The researchers wrote: 'Tea cake spans the eastern half of Lancashire (Blackburn, Burnley) and the Western half of West Yorkshire (Bradford and areas around Leeds).
'Muffin is perhaps the most geographically localised, confined to East Manchester and areas such as Oldham and Rochdale.'
The findings, published in May in the Journal of Linguistic
