A Knob/lump Of Butter - WordReference Forums

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. A knob/lump of butter

• Thread starter Thread starter blasita
• Start date Start date May 25, 2012

blasita

Senior Member

Spain - Spanish Hello. I know that 'a knob of butter' is British English, and I wonder what word/s would be used in American English and other varieties of English instead. Is 'a lump of' used everywhere? Thank you.

owlman5

Senior Member

Colorado English-US People often use the term "pat" for a little square of butter. If the butter was soft and came in a little round container, I'd just call it a portion or serving of butter.

blasita

Senior Member

Spain - Spanish Thanks a lot, Owlman. And would 'a lump of butter' be used at all, please?

owlman5

Senior Member

Colorado English-US I think just about anyone would understand "lump of butter", but as far as I know the term isn't commonly used over here. I don't recall anybody ever using that word in conversations with me.

blasita

Senior Member

Spain - Spanish Thank you again.

owlman5

Senior Member

Colorado English-US

blasita said: Thank you again. Click to expand...

You're quite welcome, Blasita. If you're still reading this post, I remember another word for "lump" we use over here with "butter": a dab of butter.

blasita

Senior Member

Spain - Spanish Of course I am! Yes, 'a dab': that's great; I knew the word but couldn't recall it. Very useful. Many thanks, Owlman. Besides, if possible, I'd love to hear if they use something different in other places too.

Wordsmyth

Senior Member

Location: Mostly SW France Native language: English (BrE) In BE, "a knob of butter" is used essentially in recipes. A small flat portion of butter for table use would be a "pat", as in AE. I'm curious to know what would appear in an American recipe: "Add a small xxx of butter". (Would that be a dab?) Ws

owlman5

Senior Member

Colorado English-US

Wordsmyth said: In BE, "a knob of butter" is used essentially in recipes. A small flat portion of butter for table use would be a "pat", as in AE. I'm curious to know what would appear in an American recipe: "Add a small xxx of butter". (Would that be a dab?) Ws Click to expand...

A recipe might very well use the word "dab" as long as no specific measure like "teaspoon" was used.

Hau Ruck

Senior Member

United States - Midwest English - U.S. As owlman stated, I've always heard a pat of butter. It's used quite commonly in recipes. I've never heard a lump nor a knob of butter used. I would understand what a lump of butter was, but I would give someone an odd look if they spoke of a knob of butter.

blasita

Senior Member

Spain - Spanish Thank you, Wordsmyth and Filsmith. Is pat used only for butter, please?

owlman5

Senior Member

Colorado English-US I've never heard "pat" used for anything except butter. For things like whipped cream, people often use "dollop". E

Egmont

Senior Member

Massachusetts, U.S. English - U.S. In the U.S., prepackaged butter is sold in sticks weighing 4 oz. (about 115g), packaged in boxes of four. Their dimensions are standard: about 1 1/4" square by 4 5/8" long (about 3.5cm square by 11.5cm long). A pat refers, in my experience, specifically to a slice of such a stick. If I saw butter in any other form, I wouldn't use this word.

bicontinental

Senior Member

U.S.A. English (US), Danish, bilingual

Wordsmyth said: In BE, "a knob of butter" is used essentially in recipes. A small flat portion of butter for table use would be a "pat", as in AE. I'm curious to know what would appear in an American recipe: "Add a small xxx of butter". (Would that be a dab?) Ws Click to expand...

Usually recipes use 'sticks' of butter (1 stick = 1/2 cup or 8 tbsp). And for smaller amounts I think 'dab' works well.

JustKate

Senior Member

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA English - US Recipes also refer to tablespoons of butter - in fact, the paper in which sticks of butter are wrapped when they're sold is generally marked off in tablespoons. Pat does appear in recipies as well - I'd interpret it to mean "approximately a tablespoon, but a little more or less doesn't matter." I've only heard and seen knob of butter in BE books and on BE cooking shows.

blasita

Senior Member

Spain - Spanish Thank you, Egmont, Bicontinental, JustKate and Owlman. I actually didn't think that different words were used in different contexts in this case. Regards.

Wordsmyth

Senior Member

Location: Mostly SW France Native language: English (BrE)

blasita said: [...] Is pat used only for butter, please? Click to expand...

As owlman says, I've not heard it used for anything else in the food domain. But if you're out walking in the fields, you might want to avoid stepping in a cow pat (/cow-pat/cowpat); I think a more common AmE term may be cow flop. Both that and butter fit the general definition of "pat" in that context: "a compact mass of soft material"! [Oxford online]

bicontinental said: Usually recipes use 'sticks' of butter (1 stick = 1/2 cup or 8 tbsp). And for smaller amounts I think 'dab' works well. Click to expand...

So a knob (or dab) would be somewhere around 1/8 of a stick or 1/16 of a cup. Not that I've ever tried measuring butter using a cup — could be a bit messy unless you melted it first .

Egmont said: [...] dimensions are standard: about 1 1/4" square by 4 5/8" long [...]. A pat refers, in my experience, specifically to a slice of such a stick. If I saw butter in any other form, I wouldn't use this word. Click to expand...

It's not rare (especially in restaurants) to see butter pats that are other than square: quite commonly circular with serrated edges, but other forms exist: here, for example. Ws You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

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