What does the saying 'butter would not melt in your mouth' mean?

Answer 1

Looking innocent but possibly with the implication that you are guilty of something.

Useage is fairly loose, originally it meant prim and proper possibly meaning that someone had a cool and unemotional way about them.

I have heard at least four different meanings for it so it appears that it doesn't really mean anything. Words and idioms change meanings over time (eg Gay) and if the meaning ends up confused then I would suggest avoiding the usage for clarity.

Answer 2

I have never found this to be a negative term it's generally used about children or teens when they have been naughty or rube and then are either sleeping or in some sort of angelic state you might say 'to look at them you think butter wouldn't melt' meaning that they are demonstrating a gentle placid persona when just 10 minutes previous they were creating havoc. So they look sweet but that could change in a moment.

Answer 3

Butter Wouldnt Melt

Answer 4

It is an expression that implies being beyond moral reproach,
however, because butter is commonly accepted to melt in any mouth, it is usually used as a jibe towards the one being 'accused'. The shade of the expression's meaning change with the context.

Answer 5

Originally it was a sarcastic thing to describe people who were cold but it's kinda been flipped around so you're right it is a bit stupid.

Answer 6

The phrase is first recorded in 1530 in John Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement, one of the earliest French grammars written for English speakers, and therefore a good record of the English and French language of that period: "He maketh as thoughe butter wolde nat melte in his mouthe." By 1546 the saying was common enough to be recorded in John Heywood's book of proverbs: "She looketh as butter wouldn't melt in her mouth."


The saying refers to someone who is demure and proper, and therefore "cold" enough to keep butter from melting. But it's used in a contemptuous way to imply that the person is overly demure and proper, and has an insincere desire to please. So the sense nearest the mark is '(one who is) superficially nice but is treacherous deep down'. The underlying insincerity is shown in this excerpt from Jonathan Swift's Polite Conversation (1738): "She looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but I warrant, cheese won't choak her." The derogatory connotation is also evident in this excerpt from William Makepeace Thackeray's Pendennis (1850): "She smiles and languishes, you'd think that butter would not melt in her mouth."


And this quote from Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind should finally settle the matter among your friends: "'I said some terrible things to him that night when he deserted us on the road, but I can make him forget them', she thought contemptuously, still sure of her power to charm. 'Butter won't melt in my mouth when I'm around him. I'll make him think I always loved him and was just upset and frightened that night'".

Answer 7

I have never heard this phrase, but I assume it means the person is cold.

Answer 8

Sounds like they are implying that the person is stone-cold. It certainly doesn't seem like a compliment.

Answer 9

It means someone who can lie with a straight face.

Answer 10

It means that you are a cold person. Either that or you are a liar.