by sew your fingers together November 13, 2021
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(Idiom) Take the simple solution to a problem instead of over-complicating it.
Origin:
The phrase comes from an anecdote about a dog that kept stealing bread left on the kitchen counter. The owner tried punishing the dog, which worked if they were home, but the problem continued whenever the dog was unsupervised. When they asked for advice, someone simply said, “Can you put the bread in the cupboard?” Sometimes the easiest fix is the most effective one.
Usage:
If a simple action will prevent an unnecessary problem, and doesn’t inconvenience you, then just “put the bread in the cupboard.”
Completely unrelated to "put the fries in the bag."
Origin:
The phrase comes from an anecdote about a dog that kept stealing bread left on the kitchen counter. The owner tried punishing the dog, which worked if they were home, but the problem continued whenever the dog was unsupervised. When they asked for advice, someone simply said, “Can you put the bread in the cupboard?” Sometimes the easiest fix is the most effective one.
Usage:
If a simple action will prevent an unnecessary problem, and doesn’t inconvenience you, then just “put the bread in the cupboard.”
Completely unrelated to "put the fries in the bag."
"I was totally overthinking which flavor of coffee creamer to buy. All I needed to do was put the bread in the cupboard and get both. I had a buy-one-get-one coupon, anyway."
"Your roommate situation does sound annoying, but sometimes you just have to put the bread in the cupboard. Have you tried carrying your toiletries to and from the bathroom instead of leaving them in the shower? Maybe then they'll stop using your shampoo."
"Your roommate situation does sound annoying, but sometimes you just have to put the bread in the cupboard. Have you tried carrying your toiletries to and from the bathroom instead of leaving them in the shower? Maybe then they'll stop using your shampoo."
by crumbsalad November 19, 2025
Get the Put the bread in the cupboard mug.by anonymous January 19, 2021
Get the despair bread mug.What you growlingly exclaim when told that someone did something uncaring/deceitful because "he knows which side his bread is buttered on"; what you mean, of course, is that you would rather risk displeasing the powers-that-be than harm someone else.
Back when I was a frail and tender-minded nine-year-old, my bi**hy second-grade teacher violently shook me and gave me a long severe verbal working-over merely because I had "mouthed right back" at a "spoiled-rich-kid" youngster who had been outrageously rude to me over an extremely trivial matter. At da time I was at a total loss to know why said irritable teacher had been so ferociously defensive of Little Miss Bossy 'n' Obnoxious; it wasn't until decades later that I finally learned that said bratty pint-sized colleen was da daughter of a "somebody" in town, and so I realized dat da teacher had "known which side her bread was buttered on", and therefore when said whiny miscreant went "bawlin' 'n' blubberin'" to da teacher about it, she felt compelled to blame ME for da verbal dust-up instead of just telling dat willful child to "shut up and grow up", as she should have. As I tell my friends when relating the story nowadays, though, "I'd eat my bread without butter!" before I ever unfairly blamed an innocent person like that. Reminds me of da "Little House On The Prairie" episode about da broken music box.
by QuacksO March 18, 2019
Get the I'd eat my bread without butter! mug.Jeff said, “I have bread over my ears cause if it’s not about that bread I don’t wanna hear about it.”
by Fuzzy Schtuff October 10, 2022
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