Speak butter french: six expressions around the word beurre

SEE IF YOU CAN GUESS THE MEANING OF THESE PHRASES JUST FROM THEIR ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS Butter is a mainstay in French cuisine and its importance has spread into the culture and language. In

2016 Emmanuel Macron responded to a farmer who asked if he was vying for the presidency by saying: _Je ne suis pas là pour beurrer des tartines_ (I am not here to butter bread). Inspired by

the 1963 film _Tontons Flingueur_, this line was a clear message: ‘I will run for president’. Below are six more expressions involving the word butter. We give you their meaning and the

context in which to use each so you can seamlessly drop a butter-based saying into your French conversations. VOULOIR LE BEURRE ET L'ARGENT DU BEURRE “WANTING THE BUTTER AND THE MONEY

OF THE BUTTER” This saying appeared at the end of the 19th century. It is very similar to ‘You cannot have your cake and eat it’. READ MORE: DO YOU KNOW THE ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS OF THESE 5

FRENCH EXPRESSIONS? It refers to the fact that it is impossible to both keep the butter and get money for selling the butter: you must choose one or the other. For example, if someone buys a

very fast car and then complains about the amount of petrol it uses, you could tell them: _On ne peut pas avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre._ TU N’AS PAS INVENTÉ LE FIL À COUPER LE

BEURRE “YOU DID NOT INVENT THE WIRE TO CUT BUTTER” One of butter’s main properties is that it is soft - at least when it has not been in the fridge. It is easy to cut butter and it would not

take a lot of intelligence to come up with a utensil to cut butter with, therefore this expression refers to someone who is dim or thick. The English equivalent is ‘you are not the sharpest

tool in the shed’. For example, if you see someone struggling to do something easy, you could say _il n’a pas inventé le fil à couper le beurre, lui _(he did not invent the wire to cut

butter). COMPTER POUR DU BEURRE “COUNT FOR BUTTER” If you have just learnt a new card game, you may hear someone announce _la première partie compte pour du beurre_ (‘the first round counts

for butter’). In this context, it means that the first round does not count. Generally, it is used to refer to something that has no importance. Though the phrase became commonly used in the

19th century, its meaning originates from Roman times. Then, butter was rarely used in cooking and was seen as a cheap, inferior alternative to olive oil, which was seen as noble. That is

why butter means something insignificant here despite how much it is loved nowadays. AVOIR UN ŒIL AU BEURRE NOIR “HAVING A BLACK BUTTER EYE” The loser of a fight often gets an _œil au beurre

noir_, which means a black eye. This expression, which is the most common to refer to a black eye, is a play on words. It refers to an _œuf poché au beurre noir_ (a black butter poached

egg). Eggs are poached by cooking them in water. They are then sometimes fried in butter, which can turn a darker colour if cooked for too long. The butter then colours the white of the egg,

hence the expression. The words _œuf_ and _œil_ are similar because they are both spelt with an _e-dans-l'o_, an e in the o. This letter is used to denote the sound the speaker should

make: it should be pronounced almost an ‘a’ sound. METTRE DU BEURRE DANS LES ÉPINARDS “PUTTING BUTTER IN THE SPINACH” If you are improving your financial situation, you can say _je mets du

beurre dans les épinards_. For example, if you have a part-time job and you are asked why you do it on top of your full-time job, you can respond _je mets du beurre dans les épinards_. It

likely comes from the idea that putting butter in spinach is an expensive but effective way of making it more delicious. Being able to put butter in your spinach therefore means that you are

in a comfortable financial situation. READ MORE: FRENCH EXPRESSIONS ABOUT MONEY: SHOULD I USE THUNES OR ARGENT? AVOIR DES MAINS DE BEURRE “HAVING BUTTER HANDS” In English, it is butter

fingers rather than hands, but the meaning is the same. The expression is used to describe someone who often drops things and is not good with their hands. It comes from the fact that butter

is either soft so not strong enough to catch with, or slippery so difficult to grasp.It is mostly used in Normandy. READ MORE MORE FRENCH WORDS AND PHRASES WITH NO REAL EQUIVALENT IN

ENGLISH LE? LA? WHY LEARNING THE GENDER OF A NOUN MAKES LIFE IN FRANCE EASIER SPEAK LIKE A LOCAL: SEVEN PHRASES SPECIFIC TO THE NORTH OF FRANCE