‘A bit of bat wrapped around a fish’ — U.K. slang?

March 15, 2023 7:34 AM

This might be a silly question, but it has been bugging me and my spouse — so here goes! Last night we watched a show called Inside Balmoral and one of the historians (or it could have been a journalist) said that some of the guests did not like the lifestyle and food when visiting and said “they did not like eating a bit of bat wrapped around a fish.”

Is this U.K. slang for something — does “bat” mean like say bread? Or was it (as I doubt) literal? We had closed captioning on (I am hard of hearing) and the word was “bat” and not say “bun” — she says she heard it and I read it to boot! But it just sounds so bizarre and we are doubting ourselves.

posted by Lescha to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

Best answer: Batter maybe? Like fish and chips or a whole deep-fried or pastry-baked fish?
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:36 AM on March 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: My experience with the Great British Bake-Off makes me think it was probably "bap," which is a bun. See this Wikipedia list of bread rolls.
posted by papayaninja at 7:36 AM on March 15, 2023 [7 favorites]

Best answer: This page says a Bap is a bread roll that originated in Scotland.
"There’s also a popular fish filling – battered and fried mackerel fillets are served in a bap with tartare sauce for a sandwich called mackerel bap...."
posted by belladonna at 7:40 AM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

This checks out! As you’ve likely noticed, closed captioning often falls short on regional slang or informal language, especially if the subtitles are AI generated.
posted by Juniper Toast at 8:03 AM on March 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: If the person speaking was posh/upper class etc then they probably wouldn't say bap, although that does make sense to change bat for bap in terms of making something people would eat! I think it's more likely to be a bit of a joke on the Balmoral Estate's self-sufficiency (they say they are 100% self sufficient) - with perhaps bats and fish and not much else visible on the estate at that time of year, making for weird/horrible/unappealing dinner combinations.
posted by london explorer girl at 8:08 AM on March 15, 2023

A bap is indeed a bread roll, but "a bit of bap" is less likely than "a bap" - it's still possible, though. "A bit of batter" would make more sense and would presumably relate to fish & chips. Ironically the Prime video isn't currently available in the UK but is there a clip on YouTube or somewhere so we can hear it?
posted by altolinguistic at 8:27 AM on March 15, 2023 [8 favorites]

It's batter. It is a class thing (yet again). Battered fish is considered low-class and not what people expect from visiting Balmoral (though I'd definitely expect the battered fish to be fresh and delicious).
posted by peacesign at 8:34 AM on March 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Almost certainly 'a bit of batter wrapped around a fish'. I can just hear the upper class contempt and condescension lurking behind that phrase. 'A bit of bap' is something you would only say in a very specific context, i.e. you've been eating one and dropped a bit on yourself, and then some helpful soul might say: "You've got a bit of bap stuck to your jumper" - to which the traditional reply would of course be: "Yes, I know, I was saving that for later!"
posted by Chairboy at 8:58 AM on March 15, 2023 [9 favorites]

I can just hear the upper class contempt and condescension lurking behind that phrase.

I can hear the condescension in the product, but not the upper-class because how much batter do you have to bathe in foods before you shorten it to 'bat'? Especially since you can emphasize the low-classness of it by emphasizing the 2nd syllable, Moira Rose of Schitt's Creek style.

I've never heard anyone say that before, and I've worked in kitchens, watched cooking shows/etc. I'd go so far as to say it's an accident by the actor/person saying the line.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:59 AM on March 15, 2023

It could just be the /ɹ/ sound at the end of batter merging with the /ɹ/ sound at the start of wrapped, leading to a mistake by the captioner. "Batter wrapped" could come out sounding like "bat wrapped" depending on exactly how it's spoken.
posted by mbrubeck at 12:33 PM on March 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'd go so far as to say it's an accident by the actor/person saying the line.

According to the OP it was taken from closed captioning, so the error may well have crept in there.
posted by Chairboy at 5:50 PM on March 22, 2023