Dear Buttheads

[Victor Steinbok]

There is a traditional military-induced impression in many cultures that
the butt-end of a loaf is less dense and is therefore bigger than the
middle. So when bread used to be rationed (e.g., in the military), there
was always a preference for butt-ends. It may also have something to do
with the flavor ratio, as butt-end contains substantially more crust
which has a different, more caramelized taste from the bulk of the loaf.

Note that the opposite is often true with cheese and cold-cuts--no one
wants the butt end (unless you happen to be an Italian chef and use aged
cheese rinds in making of soups).

With that, I'm going to butt out...

     VS-)

On 5/2/2012 1:28 PM, W Brewer wrote:
> Not wanting to be distracted from loftier thoughts about butts ... My
> father&  I used to compete for possession of the butt at meal times. That's
> what the old man called the ends of a loaf of Wonderbread. There could
> never have been any hint of impropriety; he was absolutely strict about not
> using vulgar language in the family, although (or maybe because) he had
> been a sailor in WWII. My impression is that butt has acquired a vulgar
> cast to it in more recent years, which has then shunted aside all other
> meanings (linguistic corollary to Gresham's law).

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