Name: English Tutor Nick P Word Origin (39) Butter Someone Up
Uploaded: 2019-05-10T14:36:40.000Z
Duration: 2 min 19 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 39. The word origin today

To-infinitive

or  the term today the origin is to butter someone up. Okay. Good. Let's

The imperative

take a look at the note here. If someone butters up another person,  he or she

praises someone a lot in order to gain his or her favor. Okay or is sometimes

used before delivering bad news or asking for favors. So if you're buttering

someone up you're trying to make them feel better. You're getting them ready for

something,  usually some bad news , asking for a favor or something like that. Okay.

Let's continue. Most sources claim the origin of this phrase came from an old

ancient Indian custom of tossing like throwing or tossing balls of ghee.  I guess

that's how you pronounce it,  which is clarified butter. Okay.  What's clarified

butter ? We have that down here. Clarified butter has been made clear by heating. So

they heated it up to make it clearer and guess they're throwing that..  Okay

clarified butter at particular gods in order to gain their favor. Even though I

don't know we sometimes think this is strange. Wouldn't , wouldn't that make the

gods angry if you throwing  butter on them ? Or maybe they like it. Maybe they

think it's nice and shiny.  I don't know.  By buttering up the statues it was hoped

they would have a good you know,  have good harvests and peace. Peace you know not

war. Okay. Good. So let's continue. Let's look at a couple of examples. The way we

may hear it still used today. Every time you try to butter me up,  it means you are

going to ask me for a loan.  Maybe this person already knows. Like don't.  Don't

try to butter me up.  I'm not doing that you know that's where we might hear it

or the second one you had better do a lot of buttering up if you plan on

asking him for that favor. So he's not going to give that favor very easily. So you

better butter him up really well.  Okay,  Anyway I hope you got it.  I hope

it's clear.  I hope it was informative.  Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.