Today is the first day of spring. I'm grateful for seasons. Colorado admittedly has 2 real seasons and 2 mini ones but there is still a distinction. And I'm grateful for them because they help mark the passing of time. They give me a measure of time to go by so that if I am looking forward to an event that happens in a certain season I can judge the time correctly. I'm grateful for the newness that each season change introduces. Some people respond strongly to one season while others to another. I respond more strongly to the season of fall and then spring, I could honestly do without summer and winter. But I'm grateful for all of them because they provide some change. I have known people who live in places where there really aren't seasons at all. It's the same year round. No changes, no new leaves, no flowering blooms that differ because of seasons. Ugh. How boring! I wouldn't like that at all so today, as it is the first official day of spring (whatever that means - haha), I am grateful for seasons.
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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