proverb · Source-linked selection
Butter is gold in the morning, silver at noon, lead at night.
Butter is gold in the morning, silver at noon, lead at night.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying ranks butter differently across the day: gold in the morning, silver at noon and lead at night. The metal sequence makes its imagined value decline with time.
What the words are saying
The three comparisons give a familiar food a changing worth without explaining the reason. As an explicit analogy, the usefulness of something may depend on when it is wanted. The source does not establish a dietary effect at each hour or a rule for eating butter. The useful reading distinguishes a vivid ranking from evidence for the claim.
Everyday example
A reader compares the descending values in the rhyme without organising meals around them.
When to use it
Use it to discuss a time-based value comparison in food lore.
Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗
What it does not mean
The ranking is not independently verified nutritional guidance.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 178 · Butter
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English