# When did "butter" become a synonym for "margarine"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999 "2009-11-10T03:37:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/1 "2009-11-10T03:37:32Z")
One morning a couple of weeks ago, I went to the deli/convenience store across the street and ordered a sesame bagel with butter. “Sesame bagel with butter” was the exact phrase I used to order it. On the way to work I unwrapped it and took a bite… margarine. Okay, maybe the guy just made a mistake. So I’m back there last week, and this time I say “Do you have real butter, or just margarine?” The guy replies “Sure, we have real butter!” like it’s a silly question, I mean what kind of a crappy store would sell bagels but not have real butter, right? I order a sesame bagel with real butter, and that is what I get. It’s good, and I enjoy it. Now this morning I go back again and order a sesame bagel with butter. I didn’t say “real butter”, because I figure by saying “butter” they would know I didn’t mean “margarine” and besides, we’d been through this once before, same guy and everything. So what does he give me? Margarine. These are not isolated incidents. I’ve had the same experience at more than one Dunkin Donuts as well. Who are these people who don’t know that margarine is not butter? Do they actually think they taste the same? Or have the same texture? What do they think of us people who only like real butter? Do they think we’re super picky food-snobs, like people who will walk out of a restaurant in a huff if they don’t have authentic imported organic free-range mayonaisse? I’m waiting for the day when I go into a shop and order a bagel, and they give me a round piece of cardboard with a hole in it. “Oh, you didn’t say you wanted a _real_ bagel!” ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/2 "2009-11-10T03:44:53Z")
When my daughter was growing up, butter was much pricier in comparison to margarine than it is these days, and we were poor. In addition, my mother was perpetually on Weight Watchers, so I don’t think that I had ever even HAD real butter until I was in my thirties. At any rate, I raised my daughter on margarine, and even now she prefers it greatly over butter. I’m so ashamed. However, she has a touchy digestive system (gee, can’t imagine where she’d get that), and if she eats too much animal fat, she’s likely to regret it. So at least she does have an excuse for using margarine. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/3 "2009-11-10T04:16:48Z")
I think this is better suited for Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share, with no offense intended to the OP. Moved from The BBQ Pit. **Gfactor** Pit Moderator ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/4 "2009-11-10T04:42:16Z")
Hear, hear. This light butter is my everyday butter: [http://www.landolakes.com/Products/SubCategoryIndex.cfm?SubCategoryID=61](http://www.landolakes.com/Products/SubCategoryIndex.cfm?SubCategoryID=61) While the light stuff is just fine, margarine will not do when you want butter. I grew up in a house with that giant tub of Shedd’s Spread Country Crock margarine, and I can’t go back to it when I visit. It’s an insult to toast once you’re used to butter. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/5 "2009-11-10T05:04:25Z")
Well, what happened was that vegetable oil looked around and realized that it was unhappy with its lot in life. After years of being called “greasy” and having to share shelf space with lard (_lard_, for Christ sakes!), it just got fed up with coating frying pans all the time. So it hatched a plan. It watched. And it waited. Till one day it saw it’s opportunity. One day, Mrs. Shoppengruvehaurmcgarvin of Minnesota accidentally put a bottle of vegetable oil in the fridge. But then she made a fatal mistake. She removed the butter from the fridge to spread on her toast, but left the butter dish unguarded! Seeing its chance, vegetable oil broke into butter’s home and stole its tax returns and credit card receipts. With the social security and credit card numbers in hand, vegetable oil was able to steal butter’s identity. Large multi-national corporations, such as your corner deli, can only operate by using these identification numbers. They simply don’t know the difference, and vegetable oil was able to pull off the biggest identity heist in history. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/6 "2009-11-10T05:13:52Z")
Don’t ever order a buttercream cake assuming it contains any butter, or even real margarine. It’s usually all shortening, sometimes with butter flavoring in the shortening. They should come up with a different term for faux butter, like _creme_ or \*krab. \*Buttre? But-ter? Butt-R? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/7 "2009-11-10T05:20:30Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Who are these people who don’t know that margarine is not butter? Maybe [the margarine lied to them](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvM-5LYMohM). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/8 "2009-11-10T05:51:15Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Maybe [the margarine lied to them](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvM-5LYMohM). I like the skit where a grieving Spanish woman is sobbing by her husband’s coffin. ‘_¿Por qué?.. ¿Por qué?.. ¿Por qué?_’ and the coffin lid opens a little and a voice says, ‘Butter.’ ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/9 "2009-11-10T06:29:13Z")
In much the same way that “Coke” means “Any cola beverage” and “Scotch” is used by the uneducated to mean “Any Whisky”, “Butter” now refers to (at least IME) “any sandwich spread that looks like butter”. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/10 "2009-11-10T09:24:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Maybe [the margarine lied to them](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvM-5LYMohM). I can’t believe it’s not I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! ---
**Author:** ![Pulp\_Friction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@Pulp\_Friction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pulp_Friction)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/11 "2009-11-10T10:37:08Z")
Real butter is liquid gold to me; I never eat it without thinking, ‘mmmmmmmm!!!’. It amuses me when I go to a movie theater, buy popcorn, and the youngster behind the counter asks if I want butter with it. Yeah, I’d _love_ butter on my popcorn; too bad you can’t provide it. Don’t get me started on maple syrup. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/12 "2009-11-10T11:13:35Z")
I’ve worked in a theater concession stand, and I know what the cleanliness standards are supposed to be, and how they are ignored. Trust me, you don’t WANT theaters to try to keep butter available. And especially you don’t want those kids in charge of it. But hell, even going back to the old coconut oil “buttery flavor” cooking and topping oil would be better than the current “buttery topping” that they use these days. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/13 "2009-11-10T11:19:39Z")
A food place representing margarine as butter is illegal. The FDA is very strict on what can be called butter. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/14 "2009-11-10T11:22:08Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Don’t ever order a buttercream cake assuming it contains any butter, or even real margarine. It’s usually all shortening, sometimes with butter flavoring in the shortening. They should come up with a different term for faux butter, like _creme_ or \*krab. \*Buttre? But-ter? Butt-R? Eh, they sell it in bulk at Sam’s Club. It’s called. But-r-Kreme or something obnoxious like that. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/15 "2009-11-10T13:44:42Z")
> [@Always Brings Pie](#): > > Eh, they sell it in bulk at Sam’s Club. It’s called. But-r-Kreme or something obnoxious like that. People buy something that sounds/is spelled suspiciously like “Butt Cream”? That should have been what they called Olestra _penis ensues_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/16 "2009-11-10T13:48:16Z")
Obviously, the world is giving you a message. You don’t put butter on a bagel. Get some cream cheese, for God’s sake! But you’re complaining about not getting real butter when your probably not getting a real bagel, either. Accept no substitutes! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/17 "2009-11-10T14:36:40Z")
> [@Pulp\_Friction](#): > > Real butter is liquid gold to me; I never eat it without thinking, ‘mmmmmmmm!!!’. > > It amuses me when I go to a movie theater, buy popcorn, and the youngster behind the counter asks if I want butter with it. Yeah, I’d _love_ butter on my popcorn; too bad you can’t provide it. > > Don’t get me started on maple syrup. 😃 Until just a year or two ago (when they went bankrupt), there was a movie theater in Baltimore, MD, called The Senator. It was an old-time, _real_ movie theater. Art deco marble for the floors; a _big_ screen; showed one movie at a time; still had a _curtain_ in front of the screen that they raised just before beginning the show; showed a _cartoon_ before the movie; and best of all, had _real butter_ for the popcorn! When the hubby and I lived closer to Baltimore, we would see just about any movie The Senator was showing, just because we loved the theater so much! But for the OP, yeah. I can kind of understand some people preferring margarine to butter, but I _cannot_ fathom people who can’t tell the difference. A friend of mine was going to the grocery store once and asked if I needed anything, and I told him to get me a pound of butter. I was very specific. “I want _real_ butter, _not_ margarine”. OK. Well, it was OK until he came back. . .with a pound of Country Crock quarters! Ugh. We’re still friends. . .but I think just a _tiny bit_ less of him now. . . ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/18 "2009-11-10T14:50:28Z")
On a related note - when did “hamburger” come to mean “cheeseburger”? I order a hamburger I want a _hamburger_. If I wanted a _cheeseburger_ I would have SAID “cheeseburger”! Even more annoying are the dumbfounded looks I get when I say “I want a hamburger with NO CHEESE on it” Fast Food Drone blinks rapidly in disbelief: “You don’t want the cheese?” No, idiot, that’s why I said NO CHEESE! :rolleyes: So far, the winner and still champion was the Fast Food Drone who put cheese on my burger _anyway_ then, when I returned it and she was called to task by the manager said it was “stupid” to have a burger without cheese and she made it the way _she_ liked it. Not clear on the concept of giving the customer what she wants, not clear at all… ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/19 "2009-11-10T14:51:00Z")
I can tell the difference, but I don’t actually mind margarine. It’s come a long way from when I was a kid and margarine _tasted_ like flavoured oil. Blecch! Now it tastes much more buttery than it used to, though it still doesn’t taste like actual butter. Still, I use margarine most of the time because I can generally get it in lower calorie varieties that still taste good. What I like about margarine though is that it spreads much better out of the fridge. That may not be a huge issue when spreading on hot toasted items, spreading cold butter on fresh bread is like trying to peel tape off a cardboard box without tearing the cardboard. When I get a toasted bagel while out and about though, I _do_ expect real butter. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/20 "2009-11-10T15:16:58Z")
Is it possible that it all looks alike to him, and $8.25/hr isn’t enough to to inspire passion about the work? Is it possible that some moron from the night shift who’s supposed to be setting up for breakfast puts the wrong stuff in the butter container? Years ago I went to a deli and ordered a buttered roll, expecting a nice hard roll with real butter. What I received was a hamburger bun with margarine. I never went back. That is the difference between you and me. This thread has made me anxious to have a sesame bagel with butter. Sesame is not even my usual bagel. Sadly, the bagel place that is about 40’ from here makes terrible bagels. A terrible bagel is not an acceptable conveyance, even for the realest of real butter. Sigh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999.md?page=2)