Meaning Of Idiom ‘Buttonhole Someone’
To buttonhole someone is to detain someone and engage them in conversation, preventing them from going on their way; to accost someone; to hold on to someone’s lapel, blocking them from leaving, forcing them into a conversation.
Sentence Examples
“The reporter tried to buttonhole the representative while he was going into his lawyer’s office.”
“I need to get out of the house early before my next-door neighbor buttonholes me into some longwinded conversation about what’s going on in the neighborhood.”
“Sorry I’m late for dinner. I can’t leave work without Gary buttonholing me and going on and on about his cats or his crazy collections.”
“Her Senate colleagues lived in fear that she would buttonhole them on the Senate floor to get them to sign on to one of her priority bills.” — Cal Matters, February 17, 2023
“Lawmaking became a solitary business as elected officials working remotely, away from the corridors where lobbyists tried to buttonhole them, away from the steps out front where activists staged demonstrations.” — The New York Times, March 14, 2022
Origin
In its present form, this idiom has been used since at least the mid-1800s.
In past times a button-hole (buttonhole) could have referred to an actual buttonhole in a shirt or suit coat or a flower placed in the buttonhole of a lapel. It is often claimed that this idiom alludes to holding someone by the buttonhole by grabbing the flower or an actual button, etc. of their suit to prevent them from going on their way while engaging them in conversation.
However, buttonhole seems to be an alteration of the older verb buttonhold. During the 1800s, both were in use. This change may have occurred because people mistook the term buttonhold for buttonholed. An example of this mistake is found in 1862, in a publication from London called All Year Round: “The man who is button-holed, or held … and must listen to half an hour’s harangue about nothing interesting.” 1
- “Buttonhole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buttonhole. Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.