What is ‘a round of toast’?

[NellBeau]

If someone says ‘a round of toast’ how many slices of bread would you assume that to be?

I’ve often heard people talk about rounds of toast but I’ve never actually known what a round is. I’ve always assumed it to mean 1 slice of bread. I thought a round was just another way of saying a slice.

My husband thinks a round of toast is two slices of bread because you can fit two slices in the toaster so one round of toasting yields two slices.

Now that does make sense but what about people who have a 4 slice toaster? My husband thinks people with a 4 slice toaster have 4 slices in their round. But I’m not sure that’s correct as you often hear about people having ‘2 rounds of toast’. No one would eat 8 slices, even 4 slices is a lot surely?

A round is one slice.

When I order a round of toast I want a full toast rack heaving with lightly toasted bread glistening with butter and ready for marmalade.

But… that’s not what it means, regardless of what you want it to mean!

A round of bread is one slice to me so a round of toast is a round of bread toasted!

We just say piece in this house.

So either 1 or 2 pieces please.

No ambiguity then.

I KNEW IT!... I knew I couldn't be the only person who likes cold toast!!! My OH thinks I am weird and my bestie thinks im absolutely NUTS.

I am not sure why people seem to think that the electric toaster was the first time anyone cooked more than one slice of toast at a time?

The human race has been cooking toast since ancient egyptians started propping up slices of stale bread against stones around a fire, and no ones making one slice at a time, thats just silly!

There were toasting forks with multiple prongs, toasting racks that you put four or eight slices in and closed the rack trapping the bread between the metal so you could hold all the slices over the fire, then turn them to do the other side.

One of the earliest toasters invented was a four slice toaster.

So 'round of toast' is likely to originally mean 'as much toast as we can produce in one go, to serve as many people as are present'.

It's also worth keeping in mind that for a very long time throughout history, toast might be a large part of the meal or indeed, the meal itself - a pile of hot buttered toast and jam might be a whole meal in 1930's britain and almost certainly was a hundred years earlier - no ones eating that one slice at a time when theres a family of four or probably much much more to feed!

It's only us modern weirdos who have ONE slice of toast for any meal!

I don’t think anyone has said that? I said that the concept of a round of toast wouldn’t have derived from the set number of slices you usually get in a modern toaster - ie when people on here we’re arguing it must mean 2 slices for that reason. There’s no set number in any of the methods you’ve mentioned.

But, in any case, round means one slice, as in one disc of a round loaf.

But round loaves are not cut in a way that produces a round slice, they produce long thin oval slices.

Round (cylindrical) loaves like Milk Roll do of course but thats a much later invention.

In any case we've had loaf tins a very long time and theres been a variety on the shapes of tinless loaves since pretty much bread baking began, the shape of the slice itself makes no sense as an origin for the term at all.

I don’t think they’d need to be a perfect circle. People didn’t use bread tins - they’re a very modern invention, so slices were roundish for a very long time.

One seemingly simple question but 13 pages and 300+ posts later......

Out pops the right answer.

TLDR so apologies if the right answer came out pages ago 😂

Dare to dream.

Your toast can be everything you want it to be.

Toast is too important to be limited by mere dictionary definitions.

"One of the earliest toasters invented was a four slice toaster."

I knew it !

Toast is too important to be limited by mere dictionary definitions.

Totally agree!

From the Oxford English Dictionary…

When I order a round of toast I want a full toast rack heaving with lightly toasted bread glistening with butter and ready for marmalade

What the what now? Who puts buttered toast in the toast rack?

Tbh I wish they would. 😂

Really? Cleaning a rack with dry crumbs on it - no bother. Cleaning grease - not so easy. I don't want to be given a toast rack that could be contaminated with old butter in hard to reach bits...

I actually do want my toast buttered for me in a restaurant/hotel scenario. If they leave it for the customer to do, the toast is cold and the butter doesn’t melt. Complete waste of time.

actually do want my toast buttered for me in a restaurant/hotel scenario

Any time I've had breakfast in a hotel and the toast has already been buttered (which is much much fewer than the number of times it hasn't been), it has arrived on a plate, not in a rack. Have you been served buttered toast in a toast rack?

A round of toast/ bread- one slice- singular

A round of sandwiches - plural- therefore- 2 slices

Simple!

I don’t think I’ve ever been served buttered toast! It’s always unbuttered and accompanied by those little packets of butter (which are usually too hard to spread, especially on lukewarm toast 🙄)

Me. 'Round' feels illogical when most loaves aren't round (apart from the Blackpool Milk Roll 😁).