Active Now

Danilo_G
Malizz
.
Discussion » Questions » Animals (Wild) » Why are they called butterflies? They are neither flies nor butter. I think a better name would be flutterbys.

Why are they called butterflies? They are neither flies nor butter. I think a better name would be flutterbys.

...

Posted - June 21, 2017

Responses


  • 5354

    I did a search on "butterfly entymology" and found the below to copy:

    The Oxford English Dictionary notes some old Dutch words “botervlieg” and “boterschijte,” and conjectures that butterflies’ excrement may have been thought to resemble butter, hence giving the name “butter-shit,” then “butter-fly”.

    Webster’s Third New International Dictionary says perhaps the word comes from the notion that butterflies, or witches in that form, stole milk and butter
      June 21, 2017 12:39 PM MDT
    0

  • 22891
    maybe someone thought they were flies and butter
      June 21, 2017 1:28 PM MDT
    0

  • 7132
    Why do we drive on the parkway and park on the driveway?  Life is just full of mysteries.  
      June 21, 2017 5:36 PM MDT
    1

  • Or "AEROPILLAR."

      June 22, 2017 1:32 AM MDT
    1

  • 5354
    Sometimes they are called "A big stain on the windshield" :)
      June 22, 2017 1:43 AM MDT
    1