(This
etymology
is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the
Etymology scriptorium
.)
bread
and
butter
(
uncountable
)
- (
idiomatic
)
That which is
central
or
fundamental
, as to one's
business
,
survival
, or
income
; a
staple
or
cornerstone
.
They will do some machining if you ask them, but sheet metal has always been their
bread and butter
.
2017
, Samantha X,
Back on Top: Confessions of a High-Class Escort
[1]
, Hachette,
→ISBN
:
Every escort has at least one or two regular clients; they are our
bread and butter
.
- (
idiomatic
)
The basic
requirements
of
living
, such as
food
and
housing
.
1897
,
Annual Report, Volume One
[2]
, Ontario Department of Agriculture:
What the nation, like the man, earns for itself by the honest labor of its people?when a man exerts himself to anything in an honorable calling?he is said to be earning his
bread and butter
, which includes his food and clothes and house-rent and all the rest of the thing [
sic
] he pays for. Now, if a man does not earn his
bread and butter
, he must either have it given to him as a gift, or steal it, as our forefathers nearly all did, honest, good people, too, as they were. ... It is worth while examining as to whether we earn all our
bread and butter
... We ought to look after the
bread and butter
on our farms, and see that we eat the best
bread and butter
.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically:
see
bread
,
butter
.
bread
and
butter
- Said when two people walking together are temporarily separated by an obstacle in order to indicate that they belong together.
1989
, Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm,
Lightning never strikes twice (if you own a feather bed):
, page
238
:
Should this happen, retrace your steps to the point of separation if you wish to counteract the spell. Or, say the words "
bread and butter
."
2003
, William Safire,
No Uncertain Terms
, page
46
:
Peter Bartis, at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, explains, “Bread and butter go together, a sign of unity.” He finds a citation in the seven-volume Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore: “If two persons are walking and they come to ... “When walkers were separated and did not use this phrase or
bread and butter
,” DARE adds, “it was believed they would have a quarrel.
2011
, James Hilliard,
The Doll Show
:
"
Bread and butter
," the larger of the two women quipped as they moved past their Nancy-obstacle. "
Bread and butter
!".
2011
, D. E. Wittkower,
Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective
:
Before Trudy succumbed to her injuries from the bomb that destroyed her car, she uttered the words “
bread and butter
. Monk tells us that whenever he and Trudy had to part ways, even if only briefly, she would say
bread and butter
.
2014
, Wendy Davis,
Forgetting to Be Afraid: A Memoir
:
If one of us kids was walking alongside him and we were separated by an object, whether a light pole or a person walking between us, my dad always muttered, “
Bread and butter
.”