Meaning of the Idiom “Bread and Butter”
1. A person’s bread and butter is their main source of income; the principal way someone makes a living.
2. The main aspects of a person’s job; the essential element of something that makes it work or makes it worthwhile.
3. A way to describe a job that is dull, tedious, and unrewarding, but essential; common or everyday; ordinary or routine.
4. A bread-and-butter letter: a written thanks for someone’s hospitality.
Sentence Examples
“Trucking is my bread and butter but I also restore old furniture.”
“Our cleanser is our bread and butter product but we also have several other household products related to cleaning.”
“This job is my bread and butter but I also sing at the night club.”
“His right hook is his bread-and-butter punch but he also has a mean left jab.”
“Don’t worry,” said the worker to the new guy, “it’s bread and butter work but it gives you lots of time to think.”
“I don’t know what we would do without John. He’s our bread and butter.”
“I’m tired of the same old bread and butter existence, day in and day out.”
“You can’t turn down the bread and butter jobs waiting for something big. You never know when business will dry up completely.”
“The citizens want us to deal with the bread and butter issues that affect their everyday lives, like childcare and the rising costs of healthcare.”
Origin of the Idiom “Bread and Butter”
This idiom came from America toward the end of the 1800s. An old saying is “Don’t quarrel with your bread and butter.” It is based on bread’s basic sustaining importance and the idea that while bread and butter may not be the most exciting food, they are together one of the most important and sustaining foods.
Similar Idioms and Related Expressions
Nuts and bolts: Refers to the most basic, practical, and essential working parts of a system or an operation.
Meat and potatoes: The most fundamental or substantial part of a project, job, or idea, stripped of any non-essential extras.
Keeps the lights on: A way to describe the primary work or income source that covers a business or household’s most basic operating expenses.
Pays the rent: Refers to a person’s main source of income, often used to describe a job that is routine or unexciting but provides necessary financial stability.
Puts food on the table: A common expression for the essential income required to pay for a family’s basic daily living costs.
Nine to Five Job: a regular job with a set schedule that constitutes one’s main source of livelihood.
Bring Home the Bacon: to earn money to feed and shelter one’s family; to be a breadwinner; to earn a living.
Desk Jockey: someone who spends most of their time seated at a desk; someone who works in an office all day.
Work One’s Fingers To the Bone: to work extremely hard for a prolonged period of time.