breakfast of champions

English

Etymology

Originally an advertising slogan for Wheaties breakfast cereal. Used ironically in Kurt Vonnegut's 1973 novel Breakfast of Champions to refer to a martini.

Noun

breakfast of champions (plural breakfasts of champions)

1. (informal, ironic) Beer, junk food, or other foods implied to be unhealthy.
   • 1995, Bill Granger, The New York Yanquis, Arcade Publishing, page 245:

     Aspirins and beer for breakfast; the breakfast of champions.

   • 2004, J. F. Freedman, Fallen Idols, Warner Books, page 372:

     In one hand he held a slice of cold pizza and in the other a Sprite—his version of the breakfast of champions.

   • 2004, Brad Thor, State of the Union, Simon and Schuster, page 9:

     When the coffee was ready, Leighton filled his mug to within two-and-a-half inches of the rim, then grabbed a bottle of Wild Turkey from the cabinet above the refrigerator and filled the mug the rest of the way. "The breakfast of champions," he thought to himself ...