Why does the butter knife have a little notch along its top edge?

Question

I'm speaking of a "fancy" butter knife. It might, in fact, be a butter spreader, which, I understand, is a different beast.

Answer 1

It's most likely purely decorative. A butter knife is a small, dull knife with a rounded tip or pointed tip, used solely for slicing butter and spreading it on bread. The butter knife has been a popular piece of silverware or flatware for a couple of centuries. Victorian antique butter knives are often elaborately carved affairs, often made mostly of silver. Today, when you buy flatware sets, you commonly get one butter knife.

The point of the butter knife, since it is often shared, is to avoid using your own knife to slice pieces off butter. Especially if you are in the midst of eating and have used your knife to cut other parts of your dinner, using your personal knife to cut butter is a faux pas. By offering a butter knife, you can assure that really the only thing touching the knife besides the butter will be the bread people spread the butter on, or possibly corn on the cob and a few other things that are topped with butter.

In some cases, you merely use the butter knife to cut the butter you need, then you use your own knife to spread the butter where you wish. This gives you more time to place butter on whatever food requires butter without hogging the butter while you make use of the butter knife.

The modern butter knife often looks very much like a regular flatware knife; only it is usually about half the size. It may feature either a pointed or rounded tip. Fans of the butter knife may prefer the rounded tip style since this prevents you from accidentally spearing the bread you are buttering. The rounded tip butter knife may also be called a butter spreader.

Answer 2

Antique Butter Knives

Answer 3

Butter should be served in pats, therefore the notch is to pick one up!

Answer 4

I just love a formal dinner with all the silver, crystal, china - and yes, those little butter knives. :)

Answer 5

Too formal for me
I have none
my moms 'Silver'ware had 2 I believe but they were smooth and round almost

Answer 6

To remind you not to lick the knife...

Answer 7

One side to cut,one to spread.

Answer 8

to help with the spreading