バイキング
also: ヴァイキング
Meanings
Viking
Refers to the historical Norse seafarers/raiders. バイキング is the common spelling, while ヴァイキング is a more foreign-sounding alternative.
I saw a model of a Viking ship at the museum.
That film portrays Viking warriors.
Only with reading バイキング
Japanese use, restricted to バイキング, especially for buffet-style meals; often overlaps with 食べ放題 when the emphasis is on all-you-can-eat service. It is an abbreviation related to バイキング料理.
See also: バイキング料理
Breakfast was a hotel buffet.
At the lunch buffet, I took small portions of the dishes I liked.
smorgasbord of things; hodgepodge; wide assortment
Only with reading バイキング
Figurative use, restricted to バイキング, for a mixed spread or wide range of non-food items. It sounds metaphorical and is less basic than the meal sense.
This magazine is a smorgasbord of information, with articles on travel, cooking, and investing.
That shop is like a hodgepodge of used goods, and it is fun just to look around.
Usage patterns
- 〈場所〉でバイキングを食べるto eat at a buffet at a place
We ate at the buffet in the hotel restaurant.
- バイキング形式buffet-style (of a meal or service)
Breakfast is served buffet-style.
- バイキングに行くto go to a buffet restaurant
We went to a buffet as a family for the birthday.