Yes, tears! I'm grateful for tears. Tears birthed from laughter and from sorrow. Tears that clean the windows of our soul, tears that release the tension of our days, tears that weep for and with others, and tears that celebrate for and with others. Tears of pride for something my child has accomplished. Tears of longing for that dream on pause. I'm grateful for tears, they reveal my humanity, my heart, my empathy.
There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.
Comments
Post a Comment