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Bunny boiler?

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Anna Spargo-Ryan

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I know it and probably would have used it, but I guess it depends whether you're using it ("she was a real bunny boiler") instead of demonstrating the character as a bunny boiler type ("she sat at his bedroom window for four days without eating, until he had no choice but to let her inside").
 

quicklime

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i think too obscure, unless you're trying to capture the "Matlock" audience.....I'm closing ion on 40 and it was a film from high school, and I DO use the term occasionally, as old slang that I haven't completely left behind. Honestly, I probably have to explain it at least half the time, which would suggest it isn't doing its job any more :-(
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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Looking at the responses, I think perhaps it's more common in the UK than the US? (Pretty common slang around here, even among the young 'uns who don't know where it comes from)

I think you're right; I'm familiar with it (though I only saw the film in recent years) and was a bit surprised to find that most responders to the OP hadn't come across the term before.

The lack of recognition of the term has surprised me too - I thought it was so entrenched in popular culture it had probably entered the OED *goes to look*

Yup, it's in there :D

I'd say not obscure then, but possibly a more common saying the UK than the US, from the look of it.

Poor bunny...

Mmmhmmm... *sob* still traumatised...
 

BethS

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Can i use the term bunny boiler, as the narrator to describe an unseen character? Or is it too obscure or cliche pop reference?

Never heard the term in my life. I wouldn't know what it meant.
 

James D. Macdonald

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I got the reference instantly.

If it's used in dialog, that's fine, since dialog is privileged. The use of the term also defines the character. If a particular reader doesn't get the reference presumably there's enough else that the story still makes sense.

You don't need to write on a third-grade level. Detective novelists throw in underworld slang all the time and don't bother to footnote. Fantasy novelists put in occasional words in made-up languages and no one thinks the less of them.

________________

(I saw the film when it was first released. (Optional trivia: It was filmed in the town where I grew up so I recognized all the locations.) When the cute little pet rabbit showed up and the little girl is wondering what to name it, I said to myself, "Better name it Hasenpfeffer, because that rabbit isn't going to live to see the final credits." I glanced at my watch and predicted when the rabbit would die, and I was right to the minute. To say that was a formulaic movie is doing it a kindness.)
 

veinglory

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For those not familiar with the movie, a woman is stalking the married MC. The family comes home to find their pet rabbit, intact but deceased in a boiling pot of water on the stove.
 

Thecla

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Chiming in to say I'm another who gets the reference instantly but hasn't seen the film. Also UK, which supports the comments upthread that it's a more common turn of phrase here.
 

Buffysquirrel

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Eh, I'm so accustomed to seeing pop culture references in books that I don't understand that it wouldn't really bother me that much if I didn't get it.
 

EMaree

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Never heard of it (US, though).

I initially read "bunny" as a mistake for "birdie." (Lion King reference. :D )

The Lion King was my first thought too. :) I know of the term, but I've never bothered to find out what it means. (I googled it now though, it means 'emotionally unstable female stalker' according to general consensus)

Consider this another vote for 'too obscure'.
 

Putputt

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Haven't heard of it, but it sounds delicious. :D
 

fredXgeorge

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Never heard of it. Made me think of Zazu sitting on the birdie boiler in The Lion King. Or bunnies being cooked in a pot :(
 

BethS

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For those not familiar with the movie, a woman is stalking the married MC. The family comes home to find their pet rabbit, intact but deceased in a boiling pot of water on the stove.

Ah. Now it makes sense. I was having trouble equating "female stalker" with "bunny boiler." It seemed the ultimate in non-sequitars.
 

rwm4768

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Yeah, I've never heard that phrase.
 

Polenth

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Looking at the responses, I think perhaps it's more common in the UK than the US? (Pretty common slang around here, even among the young 'uns who don't know where it comes from)

Yeah, references to boiling the bunnies are pretty common in my circle. Even among those who've never seen the movie.
 

DancingMaenid

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I'm also surprised that a lot of people aren't familiar with it. I'm in my mid-20's and have only seen a few minutes of Fatal Attraction, but I recognize it as a pop culture reference and know what it's referring to.

(I'm in the U.S., by the way.)
 

seun

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Interesting to see how many people aren't familiar with it. I thought it was very common. Not sure if I've ever seen the film all the way through but as it's part of pop culture, I've just picked up the meaning over time.
 

crunchyblanket

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I know what a bunny boiler is and I've never seen Fatal Attraction. I always thought it was a phrase that had become common usage without having to know the source material.
 

shaldna

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Looking at the responses, I think perhaps it's more common in the UK than the US? (Pretty common slang around here, even among the young 'uns who don't know where it comes from)

I was just about to say the same thing. I reckon the majority of folks here would know the term.
 

EMaree

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Brit here who was unfamiliar with it. Maybe it's due to my region (Scotland) or age (early twenties) though? I've never seen Fatal Attraction.
 

Jamesaritchie

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The only bunny boiler I know anything about is the big pot I use every rabbit season. I have a bunny fryer, too.

It's use wouldn't bother me, though, because I assume it's a reference to the most famous boiled bunny out there, which is the one in Fatal Attraction, though I don't know why or how. If that isn't it, I'd get real confused.
 
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