APAD: Why does bread always fall buttered side down

'Why does bread always fall buttered side down?'

The 'buttered side down' view of life is one that is pessimistic and fatalistic.

Of course, in reality, bread doesn't always fall buttered side down.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Why does bread always fall buttered side down?'?

The BBC broadcast a short programme based on this question in 2007. That might have been an interesting investigation into why some people are pessimistic glass-half-empty people and others take an optimistic glass-half-full approach.

Sadly, instead of that we were presented with a rather silly pseudo-science attempt to explain the hydro-dynamics of bread and toast, as if the question were a real one.

Of course, bread and toast don't always land butter or jam side down. Sometimes they do and they sometimes they don't, depending on circumstances.

The question is rhetorical, adding a long-suffering pessimistic weariness to similar unanswerable queries, like 'why did the chicken cross the road?' and 'why are the cameras always on this side of the pitch?'.

The 'buttered-side down' scenario is often cited as an example of Murphy's Law, or Sod's Law, that is, 'if anything can go wrong, it will'. In fact, it is a 19th century phrase/notion and long pre-dates Murphy, who was (probably) an American aerospace engineer and is credited with coining his 'law' in the late 1940s.

The Knickerbocker; or, New York Monthly Magazine published this little ditty in 1835:

I never had a slice of bread,
Particularly large and wide,
That did not fall upon the floor,
And always on the buttered side!

所有跟帖： 

• Haven't heard this one before. Good to know. -waterfowl- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 05:41:49

• 巧了，俺正在吃早飯。占位點讚。回頭細看。：） -盈盈一笑間- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 06:19:12

• 3+ sayings in one post. It's a good deal :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 09:02:38

• Interesting. 屋漏偏逢連夜雨？ -方外居士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 09:04:10

• "為什麽倒黴的總是我？" :-))) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 09:35:11

• 這個貼切，但不太像一句俗語。喝涼水塞牙縫！ -方外居士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 09:44:59

• 墨菲定律？又或者是半杯水的不同視覺？有人說，怎麽隻有半杯水了？而有些人會說，哇！還有半杯水！ -盈盈一笑間- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 09:41:16

• 啥意思，弱者總是獲得同情嗎？而忽略了事情的真相？ -雲霞姐姐- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 13:48:16

• 哈哈哈，gravity does its trick？ -顫音- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/17/2023 postreply 19:58:19

• 是的，不能老站在暗黑麵思考，因為思考帶動行為，行為和結果就會向暗處走去。 -Oona- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/18/2023 postreply 08:29:11