Cliche Cafe: Why Do We Say, ‘Butter Someone Up?’

Sure you know what it means to 'butter someone up,' but do you know why we say that?

Welcome to the Cliche Cafe, where we discover the weird stories behind cliches we use all the time... or if you're my mom, hundreds of times a day.

Love you, Mom, but you are the queen of the Cliche Cafe.

Today we start with the cliche, "Buttering Someone Up."

You know, you use this when you want something from someone. Like when you're a kid and you want your mom to let you sleepover at Stevie's house, or when you want your boss to approve your day off... you butter them up.

But who knew the 'buttering' was originally referring to actual butter.

According to Grammarly, here's the reason behind the phrase.

I know, now you want to throw butter balls at people, me too.