Bun Fight Meaning

(chiefly Britain, idiomatic) An altercation, especially one which is chaotic, not terribly serious, or outright ridiculous.

Example: 1997 Feb. 20, Geoffrey Macnab , "Film Review: Africannes...," Independent (UK) (retrieved 21 Aug 2014):
  [T]he cineastes . . . will descend on that shabby little seaside town in the south of France for the 50th Cannes bun fight.
2002 Aug. 17, Elizabeth Becker and James Dao, "A Washington Must: Embassies With Élan," New York Times (retrieved 21 Aug 2014):
  "Most people don't bother to go to those big ‘bun fight’ receptions anymore," said the spouse of an administration official.
1915, John Galsworthy, The Freelands, ch. 25:
  "Our interest in the thing is all lackadaisical, a kind of bun-fight of pet notions. There's no real steam."
2004 July 26, "A Duet That Straddles the Political Divide," New York Times (retrieved 21 Aug 2014):
  [O]ne of the big new hits on the Web is a silly, two-minute satire of the current Republican-Democrat bun fight, starring President Bush and Senator John Kerry as animated cutout figures.
2008 Nov. 24, Jane Martinson, "'We've had enough thinktankery'," Guardian (UK) (retrieved 21 Aug 2014):
  The debate over public service funding turned into a bun fight, says the communications minister.
2011 May 26, Steve Lohr, "Nigeria's prospects: A man and a morass," Economist (retrieved 21 Aug 2014):
  â€œNigerian politics is one big bun-fight over oil money,” says Antony Goldman, a consultant.