Englishbutt in
Meaning: To interrupt or interfere; to push in.
Example: “Sorry to butt in, but your car's headlights are still on.”
Origin: The verb is the one horned animals supply. To butt is to strike with the head, from an Old French root, and it names the specific way a ram or goat makes an entrance — head first, without preamble, and with no interest in whether the space was open. That is the whole content of the idiom: butting in is not merely joining a conversation but forcing a way into one, leading with the least conciliatory part of oneself. The phrase is American, attested from around 1900, and the choice of animal matters, since a ram butts to assert precedence rather than to feed or defend, which is precisely the complaint made against a person who does it.
More English idioms
- by hook or by crook By one way or another; by any means possible.
- call the shots To be in control or to give orders.
- open a can of worms A situation that contains many unexpected and unwanted problems and consequences.
- carry a torch for someone To be in love with someone, usually someone who does not love in return.
- carry the ball To take on work or responsibility in order to keep a project moving forward.
- cast pearls before swine To offer something to someone who cannot appreciate it.
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