bread-and-butter letter

Idioms  

1. A thank-you letter from guest to host. For example, Mother always had to remind the children to send Grandma a bread-and-butter note. [c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bread-and-butter letter

And so the "bread-and-butter" letter went to Mr. and Mrs. Geary both, and was kept and treasured by them as one of their choicest possessions.

From Marjorie at Seacote by Carolyn Wells

Also, I have a polite bread-and-butter letter from my nice young man in Washington, and a book from him, likewise a box of candy.

From Dear Enemy by Jean Webster

One of these is what a college boy recently described in my hearing as the "bread-and-butter letter."

From The Secret of a Happy Home (1896) by Marion Harland

"A bread-and-butter letter; Mother says it's all right."

From Marjorie at Seacote by Carolyn Wells

Within ten days after her departure the guest should write a bread-and-butter letter to her hostess.

From Book of Etiquette, Volume 2 by Lillian Eichler Watson