Woo!From dictionary.com
Is a butterfly named for the color of its excrement or because it was thought to steal butter? It is hard to imagine that anyone ever noticed the color of butterfly excrement or believed the insect capable of such theft. The first suggestion rests on the fact that an early Dutch name for the butterfly was boterschijte. The second is based on an old belief that the butterfly was really a larcenous witch in disguise.
(Is a butterfly named for the color of its excrement or because it was thought to steal butter? It is hard to imagine that anyone ever noticed the color of butterfly excrement or believed the insect capable of such theft. The first suggestion rests on the fact that an early Dutch name for the butterfly was boterschijte. The second is based on an old belief that the butterfly was really a larcenous witch in disguise.
Quelabra Don't Knock New York,
Tue 26 Nov 2002, 22:40,
archived)
is that where "bottersnike" comes from, then?as in "bottersnikes and gumbles"
(
spacefish bong!,
Tue 26 Nov 2002, 22:43,
archived)
probablyapparently my mothers side of the family emigrated from the netherlands to norfolk so you've got them to blame. how about guttersnipe?
( Reverend Dan,
Tue 26 Nov 2002, 22:48,
archived)