whatever butters your bread

phrase

Synonym of whatever floats your boat.

Meanings

phrase
  1. idiomaticinformalSynonym of whatever floats your boat.

    Captain Love collects the jinetes names and then, like a smart man, or a coward, whatever butters your bread, departs.

    2004, Humberto Garza, “Misinformation on Murrieta Orozco, ‘El Patrio’”, in Joaquín: Demystifying the Murrieta Legend, San Jose, Calif.: Sun House, →ISBN, page 58
    4 more examples

    They were very nice people actually, in their own way, they just had very focused views on the benefits of pain over pleasure, and yeah, whatever, each to their own, whatever butters your bread, you know, I don’t really care as long as they are happy.

    2004, Bradley Trevor Greive, quotee, “‘Die first, quit later’”, in Kate Bezar, editor, Dumbo feather, pass it on., number 2, Sydney, N.S.W.: Bezar Holdings, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 26

    Move the expression pedal to the heel down position and set the six knobs any way you like. Then move the expression pedal to the toe down position and move any of the knobs to create a different sound. You can change one knob, or two, or all of them. Whatever butters your bread.

    2011 November 7, Boomerang® E-155 Chorus*Delay Pedal: User’s Manual, Grapevine, Tex.: Boomerang Musical Products, page 6

    “Indentured servants were a better class of people.” / “Well,” said Maurice Overstreet, “if it makes you feel better to think so, then. . . whatever butters your bread.” […] “But,” said Faye, not to be outdone, “technically Columbus didn’t get to the mainland. They ended up somewhere in the West Indies. Last I checked, that’s not really America.” / “Right,” Allen said, “and Babatunde was in Virginia.” / Maurice took a sip of wine. “As I said before – whatever butters your bread.”

    2015, Lauren Cecile, chapter 40, in Eyes Like Mine, North Charleston, S.C.: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, →ISBN, page 184

    “[…] If I can’t be of any use on this earth in solving crimes while I am alive, I would like to assist in continuing to solve them after I am deceased.” / Stepping off the elevator, I barely got clipped by the doors closing. “That’s fine. Whatever butters your bread, or floats your boat, or whatever.”

    2016, T[ammy] L[ynn] Garrison, chapter 16, in The Twisted Blackmailer (Watson & Holmes; 1), London: MX Publishing, →ISBN, pages 197–198

    Synonyms: whatever floats your boat

Synonyms & antonyms

phraseSynonym of whatever floats your boat.

Cite this entry
APA

whatever butters your bread. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whatever%20butters%20your%20bread

MLA

“whatever butters your bread.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whatever%20butters%20your%20bread. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whatever butters your bread,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whatever%20butters%20your%20bread.

Source: whatever butters your bread on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.