Sometimes we dread or despise the plan "b". You know what I mean by plan "b", the alternate, not as ideal plan *you* have to move to because plan "a" clearly isn't going to happen. But I have found there to be a lot of grace, and joy, in plan "b". Oh at first it might suck but eventually the grace and joy of it surfaces and you discover that like Garth Brooks you too are thankful for unanswered prayers. *grin* Plan "b" is being grateful for unanswered prayers. It is knowing, recognizing, understanding that Someone knows something you don't and knows that plan "b" is actually the ideal, not plan "a". I'm grateful for plan "b". I can look back on my life and see how plan "b" was actually plan "a" all along.
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.
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