kiss-her-in-the-buttery
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɪs həɹ‿ɪn ðə ˈbʌt(ə)ɹi/
Etymology: From kiss + her + in + the + buttery (“room for keeping food or beverages, storeroom”), from the way the flower’s petals are said to resemble the faces of two people kissing: see the 1891 and 2010 quotations. Compare other vernacular names for the wild pansy like come-and-cuddle-me, heart’s delight, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, kiss-me-at-the-gate, love-in-idleness, and tickle-my-fancy. (The word buttery is etymologically unrelated to butter, though the latter may have influenced the shift in meaning from “room for keeping alcoholic beverages” to “room for keeping food or beverages”.)
Senses: examples: text: From its coquettish hanging head and half-hidden face, the Pansy bears a whole catalogue of amatory names: it is Heart's-ease, Love in Idleness, Pink of my John[,] Tittle my Fancy, Jump up and Kiss me, Kiss behind the Garden Gate, Meet-her-in-the-entry-and-kiss-her-in-the-buttery—the longest Plant-name surely in any language.
ref: [1891, W[illiam] Tuckwell, “Plant-names of Persons, Places, Seasons”, in Tongues in Trees and Sermons in Stones, London: George Allen […], →OCLC, pages 79–80:
text: The pansy that we love so well and for which our English cousins have so many nicknames is, after all, only a violet that has had a chance. Some call it "Heart's-ease," others "Meet-her-in-the-entry," others "Kiss-her-in-the-buttery," and still others "Jump-up-and-kiss-me" and "Tickle-my-fancy."
ref: 1917 June, Gilbert H[ovey] Grosvenor, “Our State Flowers: The Floral Emblems Chosen by the Commonwealths”, in Gilbert H. Grosvenor, editor, National Geographic, volume XXXI, number 6, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 491, column 2:
text: Love-in-Idleness, Tickle-My-Fancy, / Heartsease, Kiss-Her-in-the-Buttery, / when I hear the pet names of the pansy / I think I may have to go back to being / in love with my mother. She grew them, huge / and furry-faced, maybe she brushed them, / in her sleep, with some holy, baby hairbrush, / the motionless animals she loved.
ref: 2003, Sharon Olds, “Pansy Glossary”, in The Unswept Room, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 87:
text: [I]n English parishes people saw two faces, up to much less intellectual business. They were kissing, the side petals lip to lip within a hood formed by the upper petals. Kiss-and-look-up was the nickname in Somerset, and elsewhere, Kiss-behind-the-garden-gate, Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, Kiss-me-quck, Leap-up-and-kiss-me, climaxing in Lincolnshire's upstairs-downstairs version, Meet-her-in-the-entry-kiss-her-in-the-buttery. But the wild pansy was more widely known as heartsease, and perhaps it was used for just that purpose, picked as a posy to claim the kiss it pictured.
ref: [2010, Richard Mabey, “Love-in-idleness”, in Weeds: How Vagabond Plants Gategrashed Civilisation and Changed the Way We Think about Nature, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, page 108:
text: 'Looks like a common pansy,' I said, studying the fine ink drawing she was just starting to fill in with touches of purple, both subtle and bold. 'Love-in-idleness is the name I prefer, but lady-in-waiting, kiss-her-in-the-buttery, heartsease, if you must. Though there's nothing common about the pansy.' Fanny commanded a room when she talked about her plants.
ref: 2021, Samantha Silva, “Mary W”, in Love and Fury, London: Allison & Busby, →ISBN:
glosses: Synonym of wild pansy (“Viola tricolor, a European wildflower with medicinal properties, which was formerly believed to ease heartache”)
synonyms: word: wild pansy
extra: Viola tricolor, a European wildflower with medicinal properties, which was formerly believed to ease heartache