Why Are Butterflies Called "butterflies"? - Big Questions (Ep. 13)

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YouTube:	https://youtube.com/watch?v=3J_rW3FHXks
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Duration:	02:04
Uploaded:	2014-11-24
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Why are butterflies called butterflies? It's a simple enough name, and the butterfly is a simple, beautiful animal. But where does the name butterfly come from? A weekly show where we endeavor to answer one of your big questions. This week, "MadeofAwesome4ever" asks, "I've heard that butterflies were once called 'flutterbys', and that people mishearing/mispronouncing it changed it to 'butterfly'. is this true? If not, why are butterflies called 'butterflies'?” -- Mental Floss Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mf_video Select Images and Footage provided by Shutterstock: www.shutterstock.com Want more of Craig? https://www.youtube.com/wheezywaiter https://www.youtube.com/thegoodstuff ---- Don't miss a video! Subscribe NOW: https://www.youtube.com/@MentalFloss?sub_confirmation=1 About Mental Floss: Mental Floss is where curious people come for trivia-tastic information. Mental Floss produces lists of fun facts, debunks common misconceptions, and tells untold stories from history, science, culture and more. Website: http://www.mentalfloss.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mental_floss Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mentalflossma... Store: http://store.mentalfloss.com/ (enter promo code: "YoutubeFlossers" for 15% off!) Copyright Notice: This video and YouTube channel contain dialog, music, and images that are property of Mental Floss. You are authorized to share the video link and channel, and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to this YouTube Channel is provided. © 2025 Mental Floss Why are butterflies called "butterflies"? - Big Questions (Ep. 13) | Mental Floss https://www.youtube.com/@MentalFloss Hi, I'm Craig. I used to be a caterpillar, but since then I have blossomed into a beautiful butterfly, and this is Mental Floss on YouTube. Today I'm going to answer MadeofAwesome4ever's big question: I've heard that butterflies were once called flutterbys, and that people, mishearing/mispronouncing it, changed it to butterfly. Is this true? If not, why are butterflies called butterflies? The fact that butterflies were once called flutterbys is a popular story, but like many popular stories, it's not true. So today I'm going to tell you where the word butterfly did come from. Let's get started. (Intro)So the word butterfly evolved from these two words (Buttorfleoge and Boterflye) from Middle English and Old English. As you can see the spelling is varied but it's pretty hard to argue that they were ever called flutterbys. Except for in the book The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews but that's probably not what you meant.Experts aren't totally sure why the insects were initially given the name though. Some believe it's because the butterflies have wings that are the color of butter but most people dismiss this theory on account of it being really dumb 'cause there are many butterflies that have many different colors. They're not all the yellow butterflies.A more fun explanation is found in the Oxford Dictionary as most fun explanations are. It claims that the English word was actually a translation from the Dutch word for butterfly. The word (Boterschijte) literally translates to "butter s**t". That's fun! Apparently as the Dutch were observing butterfly excrement, as I often do, they realized it looked like butter.A final explanation is that people believed that witches used to turn themselves into butterflies. Then they would track down and eat dairy products like butter. I'm not saying that Paula Deen is a witch but this is some pretty good evidence.English isn't the only language that has interesting ways of describing butterflies. The Ancient Greek word for butterfly (Psyche) was a synonym for soul. The Latin word (Papilio) gave us the term "pavilion" because a large tent looks like wings. And the Russian word (Babochka) can also mean bow tie. I know I didn't say the other words but I want to say that one. Can I say that one? Babochka!Thanks for watching Mental Floss on YouTube, made with the help of these babochkas. If you have a big question of your own, leave it in the comments below. Hope you fly on by next week. For website issues, you can email the webmaster at [email protected]. This email address is not the email for John, Hank, or any other hosts, and is unaffiliated with Complexly. To contact John or Hank, please visit hankandjohn.com. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy ×

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