I never understood cute as a button either, I was talking about that with a friend the other day. How are buttons cute?

there's no such thing as 'a bugs ear'

and if there was - it'd be so tiny that it would be cute.
(people think anything in miniature is cute)




for sure it's how you say anything..

if you said 'she's lovely' in the right way - you know the intent was not to say 'she's lovely'

Most of the cute references seem to not be directly metaphorical, i think they are more conceptual. Think of buttons as small and bright and it makes a little more sense.

Reminds me of a simpsons episode. Lisa was crying because of an ugly charicature that was made of her, and Homer said she was as cute as a bug's ear. she says he has to say that because he is her dad, and he says that just because he is her dad, he doesnt necessarily HAVE to compliment her, just then HIS dad walks by the room and he says "Dad, Am I cute as a bug's ear?"

"No! You're homely as a mule's butt!"
"See?"

yep .. its all about small = cute :


CUTE AS A BUTTON - "cute, charming, attractive, almost always with the connotation of being small, 1868 (from the original 1731 English meaning of 'acute' or clever). Cute as a bug's ear, 1930; cute as a bug in a rug, 1942; cute as a button, 1946. Cute and keen were two of the most overused slang words of the late 1920s and 1930s." From "Listening to America" by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1992.)

Exactly. Think about babies:

They have cute features anyway, but then think about the fact that they are on a teeny little person, and they are even cuter. I'm still fascinated by pictures of me with lily, because i am HUGE in comparison to her.



By the way, She's walking now :)

how old is she now ?


my kid first walked .. on his 1st birthday .. weird .

i know a lot of kids start sooner.

turned 1 on the first

Profane insults aren't meant to be taken literally most of the time; the profanity just expresses an emotion.

Agreed, and the extremety of the profanity is usually used to express the intensity of the emotion.

"Godamnit!" = "I'm angry!", not "I wish God to Damn this thing to suffering"
"Fuck!" = "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !" not "SEX!"

Why is dancing referred to as "cutting a rug?"