It's probably kind of obvious that today I would be grateful for Dad's. Notice I didn't say Fathers. Here's why. Any dude can make a, ahem, contribution, to creating a child but not just any dude is or can be a Dad. And the contribution a dude may make doesn't automatically make him a Dad. A Dad is present and involved in his children's lives. A Dad takes an active interest in his children, he changes diapers - feeds them - disciplines them - teaches them - loves them - and so much more. I know several men who are Dad's but to kids that they didn't help create biologically and hands down they are exactly the Dad those kids need. So today I'm grateful for Dad's out there who have invested themselves into the lives of their kids, whether they made a biological contribution to them or not.
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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