Phraseologism "shish with butter" has several variants. So, for example, they say "fig with butter" or "fig with butter." This is the same as shish with butter, the meaning of which can be found in Russian literature and Russian dictionaries.
Phrase meanings
Shish with butter in the first case means a complete lack of money or livelihood. For example:
– What are you planning to do now?
– I don't know, we'll eat shish with butter!.
In general, the fig is an allegory for a small price and is very often used in literature in this sense. In the second case, this phraseological unit means a complete, categorical refusal.
History of the phrase
In general, shish, fico, fig - this is a doo. A physical gesture that is indecent and intended to offend or humiliate the person to whom it is shown. In magical practice, it is designed to ward off the evil eye, evil spirits, and danger. In the museums of the countries of the world, amulets from antiquity are kept in the form of a hand with a muzzle. And in the original Russian tradition, the shish was used as a talisman against evil spirits. In Russia, with the help of a cookie, he drovebarley (eye disease). A sore eye was shown a muzzle and sentenced:
"Barley, barley, you've got a fig, you can buy whatever you want: buy an axe, cut yourself across."
The Indians, unlike the Russians, do not keep a shish in their pocket, they have a blow, on the contrary, they put it on display. According to the Indian interpretation, this gesture means that someone is milking a cow or painting their eyes. Apparently it all depends on the situation.
In Japan, this gesture, which symbolizes coitus and genitals, was used by ladies on the streets to show that they were ready to serve a client.
In Polissya, the shish was not only a gesture, but also an amulet that was carved from wood and hung on a loom to protect yarn and linen from the evil eye.
One version of the origin of this gesture and phraseology refers to the struggle of Frederick I Barbarossa against Milan in the 12th century. The Milanese revolted and, putting the emperor on a mule, drove him out of the city. When Frederick was again able to regain control of the city, he ordered every Milanese to remove the fig leaf attached to the backside of the mule.
