“I don’t eat snails—I prefer fast food”
Sports Illustrated recorded a quote in its September 23, 1985 issue by San Francisco Giants third base coach Rocky Bridges. Bridges was asked why he refused to eat snails and he replied, “I prefer fast food.”
Some versions have the line as “I prefer fast foods” and some versions mention that snails were suggested by a waiter. The “fast food” joke has been included in many quotation collections.
“What’s the slowest soup a chef can prepare? Turtle soup!” and “Why don’t lions like fast food?” are two other fast/slow food animal jokes.
Wikipedia: Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that is prepared and served very quickly, first popularized in the 1950s in the United States. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. Fast food restaurants are traditionally separated by their ability to serve food via a drive-through. The term “fast food” was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.
Wikipedia: Rocky Bridges
Everett Lamar “Rocky” Bridges (born August 7, 1927, in Refugio, Texas) is a former utility infielder with an 11-year career in American Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1961. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, and the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels of the American League. He appeared at second base, shortstop, third base and, occasionally, in the outfield.
Sports Illustrated
September 23, 1985
They Said It
Edited by Robert W. Creamer
Rocky Bridges, San Francisco Giants coach, on why he refuses to eat snails: “I prefer fast food.”
27 September 1985, Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution, pg. D1:
Rocky Bridges on why he doesn’t eat snails: “I prefer fast foods.”
Google News Archive
2 December 1985, Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald, pg. 52, col. 6:
A quick wit
THE SAN FRANCISCO Giants football (baseball, not football—ed) coach Rocky Bridges was asked at the weekend why he refused to eat snails. “I prefer to eat fast food,” Bridges said.
9 June 1989, Altoona (PA) Mirror, pg. D2, col. 2:
Quotable:
Buffalo Bison Manager Rocky Bridges, turning down a waiter’s suggestion of snails for an appetizer: “I prefer fast food.”
22 June 1989, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), pg. 4F, col. 6:
“I prefer fast food.”
—Buffalo Bisons manager Rocky Bridges, turning down a waiter’s suggestion of snails.
Google Books
1,001 Baseball Quips and Quotes:
Baseball’s funniest quips, quotes, zingers, and malapropisms
Edited by Glenn Liebman
New York, NY: Gramercy Books
2002
Pg. 72:
“I prefer fast foods.”
Rocky Bridges, on why he doesn’t eat snails
Google Books
1001 Dumbest Things Ever Said
Edited by Steven D. Price
Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press
2004
Pg. 71:
I prefer fast food.
—infielder Rocky Bridges, when asked why he would not eat snails
4 January 2005, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Only in L.A.” by Steve Harvey, pg. B3:
Onetime Angel player Rocky Bridges, on why he refused to eat snails: “I prefer fast food.”