GermanAlles in Butter
Meaning: Everything is fine and under control.
Literally: Everything in butter
Example: “Der Motor läuft wieder: alles in Butter.” — The engine is running again: everything is hunky-dory.
English equivalent: Hunky-dory
Origin: Two explanations circulate, neither proven. One says that when medieval nobles moved from one residence to another, their fine glass and porcelain traveled set in solidified butter to protect it on bumpy roads, so the first question on arrival was whether everything was still in Butter. The other credits Berlin innkeepers who boasted that everything in their kitchen was cooked in butter rather than cheaper fats. The first story is told in Gerhard Wagner's book on medieval sayings, but no period source confirms it.
Other ways to say this
- German: alles im grünen Bereich sein Literally: To be all in the green area
English: hunky-dory
More German idioms
- Aus dem Häuschen sein To be beside yourself with excitement.
- Einen Kater haben To have a hangover.
- die Nase voll haben To be fed up or exhausted by something.
- Dampf ablassen To release pent-up emotion or frustration.
- Salz in die Wunde streuen To deliberately make someone's pain or humiliation worse.
- die Suppe versalzen To ruin a plan or situation through careless excess.
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