Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
buffet (nn., v.)
A buffet, pronounced BUHF-it, is a blow, usually by hand or fist. Buffet is also another name for a dining room sideboard, a lunch or refreshment counter, or a meal where you serve yourself from a table covered with various dishes. This buffet is pronounced either buh-FAI or boo-FAI in the United States and BUHF-it in Britain. Both nouns are French in origin, the first from the Middle Ages, the second from the eighteenth century. The verb, which is related to the older buffet, means “to strike a blow” and is much used figuratively of wind and wave.
