Butter knife

Butter knife

In common usage, a butter knife may refer to any table knife designed with a dull edge and rounded point; formal flatware patterns make a distinction between such a place knife (or table knife) and a butter knife. In this usage, a butter knife (or "master butter knife") is a sharp-pointed, dull edged knife, often with a sabre shape, used only to serve out pats of butter from a central butter dish to individual diners' plates. Master butter knives are not used to spread the butter onto bread: this would contaminate the butter remaining in the butter dish when the next pat of butter was served. Rather, diners at the breakfast, the luncheon, and the informal dinner table use an individual butter knife to apply butter to their bread. Splint, Sarah Field. The Art of Cooking and Serving. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Procter & Gamble Co., 1930. "Table Service in the Servantless House" pp. 3-4, "The House with a Servant" p. 27 ] Individual butter knives have a round point, so as not to tear the bread, and are sometimes termed butter spreaders. [ [http://foodservice.oneida.com/index.cfm/nodeID/2605cbe7-d279-4dd1-91df-df1e1a87d315/fuseaction/content.page Oneida customer service FAQ] ] If no butter spreaders are provided, a dinner knife may be used an an alternative. [Stewart, Marjabelle Young. Comonsense Etiquette: A Guide to Gracious, Simple Manners for the Twenty-First Century. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. p. 50] No butter plate or butter knife appears on a "really" formal table as breads are placed directly on the tablecloth in a napkin to the left of the place plate. Vanderbilt, Amy. Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette: A Guide to Gracious Living. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1958. pp. 346-347.]

The notch in the butter knife is there so that the user can scrape clean the edge of his or her bread piece. [2]

Events

*In 2005, a six-year-old Omaha, Nebraska, USA, schoolboy was suspended from school for carrying a butter knife in his book bag as the result of the school's zero tolerance policy against any kind of "weapons". [ [http://www.ketv.com/news/5027982/detail.html Boy Faces Suspension For Bringing Butter Knife To School - Omaha News Story - KETV Omaha ] ]

*Multi-talented sportsman Maxwell Woosnam, an Olympic and Wimbledon champion at lawn tennis and one-time captain of the England national football team, once defeated actor and film director Charlie Chaplin at table tennis while playing with a butter knife instead of a racket. [cite book|last=Collins|first=Mick|authorlink=Mick Collins|year=2006|title=All-Round Genius: The Unknown Story of Britain's Greatest Sportsman|publisher=Aurum Press Limited|location=London|id=ISBN 1-84513-137-1]

Footnotes

ee also

*Cutlery
*Table setting

[2] Demitra said this


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • butter knife — n. a small, dull edged knife for cutting or spreading butter …   English World dictionary

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  • butter knife — noun A sharp pointed, dull edged knife, often with a sabre shape, used only to serve out pats of butter from a central butter dish to individual diners plates …   Wiktionary

  • butter knife — a small knife with a dull blade, for cutting, serving, or spreading butter. [1840 50] * * * …   Universalium

  • butter — n. & v. n. 1 a a pale yellow edible fatty substance made by churning cream and used as a spread or in cooking. b a substance of a similar consistency or appearance (peanut butter). 2 excessive flattery. v.tr. spread, cook, or serve with butter… …   Useful english dictionary

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  • knife — knife1 [ naıf ] (plural knives [ naıvz ] ) noun count *** an object with a sharp blade for cutting food: You need a sharp knife for the steak. knives and forks a kitchen/bread/carving knife a. an object with a blade, used as a weapon or tool: He… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • knife — noun 1 tool for cutting ADJECTIVE ▪ blunt, dull (esp. AmE) ▪ sharp ▪ serrated ▪ long ▪ small …   Collocations dictionary

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