I was sitting downtown tonight when a local church tower clock struck half past the hour. I love listening to a clock strike and chime. It reminds me of my maternal grandparents and summers spent at their home. They have a grandfather clock that my Grandpa put together and I grew up hearing the clock strike the hour. Sometimes I would sleep in the living room where it was and stir at its chiming. Every time I hear a clock chime now I am pulled back to memories of my grandparents and growing up with them around. I'm grateful for so many memories of that time of my life. It's comforting, it makes me feel safe, it quiets me.
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