Butter bei die Fische

== German == === Etymology === Literally, “butter with the fish” (plural). Compare Dutch boter bij de vis (with a similar, but not entirely identical meaning). The idiom is grammatically peculiar because it uses the accusative case (die Fische) with the preposition bei, which is incorrect by contemporary standard rules. The phrase is from a German Low German source. In many High and Low German dialects the word for by can express location (with dative) but also movement (with accusative). Compare other German prepositions varying between dative and accusative in the same way, e.g. in, auf, etc. === Pronunciation === === Noun === Butter bei die Fische f (Germany, idiomatic, informal) talking turkey, cutting to the chase (request for honesty, frankness, and straightforwardness) (Germany, idiomatic, informal) rolling up one's sleeves, getting down to brass tacks (request for honest effort, extra effort, all or nothing) === Further reading === “Butter bei die Fische” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache "Butter bei die Fische" in Redensarten-Index