# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/61 "2009-11-11T21:53:14Z")
I like acorn squash cooked with brown sugar and butter. Mama Plant invited me over once and cooked acorn squash with margarine and sweet and low. We need a hurling smiley. ---
**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 11, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/62 "2009-11-11T22:31:56Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > “knock back” = drink “Knock back”= refuse, in this context. Sorry, should have clarified. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/63 "2009-11-11T22:54:12Z")
Did you make up that meaning, or is it a regional thing? Because I’ve never heard “knock back” in the sense of “refuse,” only “drink.” M-W [only gives the “drink” definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knock%20back), too. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/64 "2009-11-11T22:58:27Z")
I grew up in a margarine household until I moved out on my own in 1987. It wasn’t long afterward that I started regularly getting real butter with bread and baked potatoes and that I started seriously cooking on my own. I haven’t used margarine for anything since at least 1990, and I can’t imagine ever doing so again. Butter good/margarine blah. ---
**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 11, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/65 "2009-11-11T23:00:58Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Did you make up that meaning, or is it a regional thing? Because I’ve never heard “knock back” in the sense of “refuse,” only “drink.” M-W [only gives the “drink” definition](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knock%20back), too. It’s an extremely common use in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/66 "2009-11-11T23:13:54Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Never really had butter as a child. Find the stuff far too inconvenient to use on bread, since it has to be room temperature to spread without great effort but shouldn’t be STORED at room temperature lest it become unpleasant. I think you’d be surprised. Back when I used to eat a lot of butter, I’d just store it at room temp in a butter dish. It would last at least two weeks without rancidity (I don’t know how long it could go, because it was all eaten before then.) It was very common in certain (European, mostly) households to keep the butter this way. I also would keep eggs at room temperature for weeks. I’m not exactly sure why everybody is told to keep the butter in the fridge other than it can pick up flavors easily, but rancidity has not been a problem, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/67 "2009-11-11T23:55:16Z")
I leave butter out on the counter. Of course I also keep some in the fridge. When the room-temp stick is gone, I rotate another one out. Ad infinitum. (The source that feeds the cycle, the motherlode, is in the freezer. I tend to buy butter on sale.) My mother has kept butter out on the kitchen counter all her life, as did her mother. Room temperature, all the way. I have never experienced rancid butter. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/68 "2009-11-12T00:18:04Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Heh. I always worry about this when I order a cheeseburger for my 9YO “with _nothing_ but ketchup” (she would never dream of eating pickles or mustard!) and I’m just waiting for the day when I get. . .a hamburger bun with ketchup. Period. 😉 Been there. I ordered a hamburder with just cheese once and got… a grilled cheese sandwich. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/69 "2009-11-12T00:27:19Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I leave butter out on the counter. Of course I also keep some in the fridge. When the room-temp stick is gone, I rotate another one out. Ad infinitum. (The source that feeds the cycle, the motherlode, is in the freezer. I tend to buy butter on sale.) > > My mother has kept butter out on the kitchen counter all her life, as did her mother. Room temperature, all the way. I have never experienced rancid butter. Ditto. I keep a butter dish on the counter at all times. In the _very hottest_ weather, I opt to only put out a _half-stick_ at a time. But even the times it’s hot enough for the butter to partially melt, it’s never sat out long enough to get rancid. Not to say this couldn’t happen, but in our house, butter doesn’t hang around that long! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/70 "2009-11-12T02:00:33Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Ditto. I keep a butter dish on the counter at all times. Mrs. Plant keeps butter on the counter. Annoys the hell out of me, but if you are all still alive, Ignorance has Been Fought. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/71 "2009-11-12T02:07:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Mrs. Plant keeps butter on the counter. Annoys the hell out of me, but if you are all still alive, Ignorance has Been Fought. 🙂 Well, the fact that I’m still alive doesn’t fight ignorance any more than the fact that my MIL smoked through all six pregnancies and had six healthy babies, anyway! BUT my tastebuds. . .those might matter. Rancid butter will taste-guess what?-rancid. Mine, in spite of being kept out, always tastes nice and sweet and creamy, just like it’s supposed to! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/72 "2009-11-12T02:11:05Z")
Yeah, 90% of the butter I’ve eaten in my life has been kept at room temp, and I’ve never tasted rancid butter. I imagine the conditions for rancidity are pretty extreme. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/73 "2009-11-12T02:12:53Z")
We always had both butter and margarine when I was growing up. I use mainly butter now. And I keep mine out on the counter, in a covered butter dish. Never had it get rancid. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/74 "2009-11-12T02:21:44Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Well, the fact that I’m still alive doesn’t fight ignorance …of course, those in the control group who are dead aren’t posting…Perhaps I can still argue with my Wife. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/75 "2009-11-12T02:48:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > …of course, those in the control group who are dead aren’t posting…Perhaps I can still argue with my Wife. 🙂 Obviously, you are free to argue with your wife anytime you want. Coming from my POV (that of ‘Wife’), doesn’t mean you’ll ever win. . .😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/76 "2009-11-12T03:41:56Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Obviously, you are free to argue with your wife anytime you want. Coming from my POV (that of ‘Wife’), doesn’t mean you’ll ever win. . .😉 Butter on the counter top 24/7. Dude, (Sorry, Madame,) we’re talking botulism, cheese maggots, licked by the cat… ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/77 "2009-11-12T10:21:58Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Been there. I ordered a hamburder with just cheese once and got… a grilled cheese sandwich. :smack: Heh. My story is the opposite. When my brother was about five, my mom took him to McDonald’s and asked what he wanted on his Happy Meal hamburger. “Do you want just ketchup?” “Yes.” When he got his food, he opened up his hamburger and wailed “Mom! They put meat on it too!” ---
**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 12, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/78 "2009-11-12T10:28:05Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > Heh. My story is the opposite. When my brother was about five, my mom took him to McDonald’s and asked what he wanted on his Happy Meal hamburger. “Do you want just ketchup?” > > “Yes.” > > When he got his food, he opened up his hamburger and wailed “Mom! They put meat on it too!” That happened surprisingly often when I worked for McDonalds- we’d get “grills” (Special Orders) for “Hamburgers with no patty” and “Big Macs with no sauce” regularly enough for them not to raise any eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/79 "2009-11-12T11:40:21Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Butter on the counter top 24/7. > Dude, (Sorry, Madame,) we’re talking botulism, cheese maggots, **licked by the cat** … (Bolding mine) Does your butter dish not have a cover? Mine does. It’s dishwasher safe, too. Corningware or some such. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/80 "2009-11-12T15:01:25Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It’s an extremely common use in Australia. Well… That’s what you get for… being all… foreign. Yeah! > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > That happened surprisingly often when I worked for McDonalds- we’d get “grills” (Special Orders) for “Hamburgers with no patty” and “Big Macs with no sauce” regularly enough for them not to raise any eyebrows. The no-burger hamburger was actually not uncommon for veggies to order before McD’s started having more salad-y options. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999.md?page=5)