"....that for a game of soldiers": Origin, please?

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 09:34:42 -0500, James Mullan
<mailinglist at JIMMYMULLAN.COM> wrote:

>On moving to England several decades ago, I encountered the somewhat quaint
>expression, seemingly used there only:
>
>"[insert preferred expletive] that for a game of soldiers", such as in the
>following example:
>
>Q. "Are you going to (say) Coventry to watch the football match?"
>A. "[insert preferred expletive] that for a game of soldiers, Coventry's a
>dump, and their team are a bunch of wankers".
>
>I've since wondered about the origin of the term, and ask for earliest
>references, original usages, pointers, please, if such be available.

No idea about the origin, but the expression is mentioned in a recent
article by Alan Dundes, "Much Ado About 'Sweet Bugger All': Getting to the
Bottom of a Puzzle in British Folk Speech" _Folklore_ 113(1):35-49  (April
2002).  Dundes glosses "Bugger this (Stuff that) for a game of soldiers"
as "I'm fed up and not happy with the plans for the further conduct of
this operation, reminiscent of a futile military exercise."  Another
variation on the theme mentioned by Dundes is "Bugger this/that for a
lark."  Google also turns up "...for a joke", "...for a laugh", and even
"...for a bunch of bananas" (used in the movie _Notting Hill_).

--Ben Zimmer