Idioms- Buttering Someone Up
by Langwitches ~ November 22nd, 2008. Filed under: Culture, Global Awareness, Idioms, World Languages.
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According to the Cambridge dictionary there is a difference between metaphors and idoms.
definition of idiom:
“a group of words whose meaning considered as a unit is different from the meanings of each word considered separately.”
definition of metaphor:
“an expression that describes a person or object by referring to something that is considered to possess similar characteristics.”
Looks like I have confused metaphors with idioms. I have not posted metaphors idioms on Langwitches in a while. Looks like that I am going through phases when I use more or less metaphors idioms in my daily communications.
Metaphors Idioms are one of the things I have the most trouble with when I am in conversation with monolingual people. Using metaphors idioms conjure up images that when translated into a different language make PERFECT sense to my brain, but only earn confused looks or laughter from the others.
This one came up yesterday in a conversation:
Smearing honey around someone’s mouth (from German “Jemanden Honig um den Mund schmieren”)
After a few laughs, we settled that the English equivalent of the metaphor would be to
Buttering someone up
BTW, that visual is equally funny for a non- English speaker 
Buttering someone up (or smear honey around their mouth) means, that you give him plenty of compliments or agree with his/her in order to get what you want.
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