# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/81 "2009-11-12T15:13:30Z")
My friend orders a junior bacon cheeseburger, no meat, because I guess it has the best combination of non-meat ingredients. A hamburger no meat wouldn’t do. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/82 "2009-11-12T16:21:39Z")
I guess I’m in the minority: Butter vs. Margarine = _Don’t care._ Mayonnaise vs. Miracle Whip = _Don’t care._ Coke vs. Pepsi = _Don’t care._ I’ll even go so far as to say that, even though I prefer real whipped cream, I’ve grown quite a soft spot for Cool Whip, since my wife prefers it. Go ahead, call me a philistine. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/83 "2009-11-12T18:21:04Z")
I tend not to be too fussy about my food, but I grew up eating butter, and on the few occasions I’ve had margarine, found it distasteful. When I was living with a host family in Peace Corps, I didn’t turn my nose up at it because my host family was really poor and margarine was cheaper than butter, but…yeah. I would be annoyed if I was at an actual restaurant and was given margarine instead of butter. My parents always kept the butter on the counter, too. Never had rancid butter. I keep it in the fridge now. I don’t use it enough to merit keeping it out all the time. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/84 "2009-11-12T18:59:18Z")
I might have missed it but scanning through two pages I don’t see where anyone mentioned that there was once a time when butter and margarine looked quite different. The margarine was almost white like tallow or lard and it came with a little package of coloring to be added to make it look yellowish. I’m guessing just before the end of WWII. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/85 "2009-11-12T20:50:26Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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… One of the problems in a restaurant is the employees like to but their favorites on customers food. If they like pickles, they want to heap them on the customers food. If they like onions they will lard them on. They assume the person will like them the way they do. They usually get an extra 50 cents or so to put cheese on. Makes them more money. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/86 "2009-11-12T21:48:07Z")
And do you remember when the meat in ‘hamburger’ was a mixed of ground pork and ground beef? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/87 "2009-11-12T22:34:08Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > And do you remember when the meat in ‘hamburger’ was a mixed of ground pork and ground beef? No, but I remember when I was in elementary school when if the menu at the cafeteria said “hamburger”, what you’d get was a bun…with a thick slice of ham in it. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/88 "2009-11-12T23:26:49Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It’s an extremely common use in Australia. NZ too. Either Antipodean or Commonwealth English. > [@Chopper9760](#): > > Real butter is creepy and white _shudder_ Nooooo!!! 🙂 Real butter is a [very pale golden yellow](http://www.anchorbutter.com/), and made from grass-grazed cow milk and salt. And it also comes in a double-churned [semi-soft form](http://www.fonterrafoodservices.co.nz/index.php?option=com_ffpr&view=product&id=81&Itemid=5&manufacture=0)… not quite spreadable from the fridge, but close, and with no extra additives. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999/89 "2009-11-13T00:48:54Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > Our Fred Meyer (which is owned by Kroeger) had a knock-off of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” called, and I’m not making this up, “Butter, It’s Not.” > > (Say it fast.) Better eat snot? 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-butter-become-a-synonym-for-margarine/516999.md?page=4)