Potluck

Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner, covered-dish-supper, fuddle, Jacob's Join, bring a plate, and fellowship meal.

The word pot-lucke appears in the 16th-century English work of Thomas Nashe discussing wine, and in his play "Summer's Last Will and Testament", spoken in a dialogue concerning wine. The modern execution of a "communal meal, where guests bring their own food", most likely originated in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

Some speakers believe that it is an eggcorn of the North American indigenous communal meal known as a potlatch (meaning "to give away"). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, however, it is "unlikely that this played any part in the development of this sense".

 

Potluck dinners are events where the attendees bring a dish to a meal. The only traditional rule is that each dish be large enough to be shared among a good portion of the anticipated guests. Guests may bring in any form of food, ranging from the main course to desserts.

• Buffet
• Free lunch
• Pampa mesa