Butter knife 3971834 211038016 2008-05-08T14:49:36Z Seraphim Whipp 3369647 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/216.51.144.2|216.51.144.2]] ([[User talk:216.51.144.2|talk]]) to last version by XLinkBot [[Image:4Butter01.jpg|thumb|right|250px|One pattern, four different knives. From top to bottom: Solid sterling master butter knife, hollow handle master butter knife, solid handle individual butter spreader, hollow handle individual butter spreader, in the Chantilly pattern by [[Gorham Manufacturing Company|Gorham]]]] A '''butter knife''' is essentially the exact opposite of [[butcher knife]]; a flat, metal knife. In common usage, ''butter knife'' may refer to any table knife designed with a dull edge and rounded point; formal [[flatware]] patterns make a distinction between such a [[place knife]] (or table knife) and a butter knife. In this usage, a butter knife (or ''master butter knife'') is a sharp-pointed, dull edged knife, often with a [[sabre]] shape, used only to serve out pats of [[butter]] from a central [[butter dish]] to individual diners' plates. Master butter knives are not used to spread the butter onto [[bread]]: this would contaminate the butter remaining in the butter dish when the next pat of butter was served. Rather, diners at the breakfast, the luncheon, and the informal dinner table use an individual butter knife to apply butter to their bread. <ref name=Artof> Splint, Sarah Field. The Art of Cooking and Serving. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Procter & Gamble Co., 1930. "Table Service in the Servantless House" pp. 3-4, "The House with a Servant" p. 27 </ref> Individual butter knives have a round point, so as not to tear the bread, and are sometimes termed butter spreaders.<ref>[http://foodservice.oneida.com/index.cfm/nodeID/2605cbe7-d279-4dd1-91df-df1e1a87d315/fuseaction/content.page Oneida customer service FAQ]</ref> If no butter spreaders are provided, a dinner knife may be used an an alternative.<ref>Stewart, Marjabelle Young. Comonsense Etiquette: A Guide to Gracious, Simple Manners for the Twenty-First Century. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. p. 50</ref> No butter plate or butter knife appears on a ''really'' formal table as breads are placed directly on the tablecloth in a napkin to the left of the place plate. <ref name=Vanderbilts> Vanderbilt, Amy. Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette: A Guide to Gracious Living. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1958. pp. 346-347.</ref> ==Events== *In [[2005]], a six-year-old [[Omaha, Nebraska]], [[USA]], schoolboy was suspended from school for carrying a butter knife in his book bag as the result of the school's [[zero tolerance]] policy against any kind of "weapons".<ref>[http://www.ketv.com/news/5027982/detail.html Boy Faces Suspension For Bringing Butter Knife To School - Omaha News Story - KETV Omaha<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> *Multi-talented sportsman [[Max Woosnam|Maxwell Woosnam]], an [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] and [[The Championships, Wimbledon|Wimbledon]] champion at [[lawn tennis]] and one-time captain of the [[England national football team]], once defeated [[actor]] and [[film director]] [[Charlie Chaplin]] at [[table tennis]] while playing with a butter knife instead of a [[racket]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Mick|authorlink=Mick Collins|year=2006|title=All-Round Genius: The Unknown Story of Britain's Greatest Sportsman|publisher=Aurum Press Limited|location=London|id=ISBN 1-84513-137-1}}</ref> ==Footnotes== <references/> ==See also== *[[Cutlery]] *[[Table setting]] [[Category:Kitchen knives]] {{cooking-tool-stub}} [[es:Cuchillo de untar]] [[nl:Botermes]] [[sv:Smörkniv]]