Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hiromichi]

What does "the syrup on the pancake" mean in the following paragraph?

Worse, Mrs. Butterworth was just the syrup on the pancake. In 1775, when the Continental Congress began to print paper money to pay for the Revolution, rampant counterfeiting helped undermine the currency's value. People soon referred to any worthless thing as being "not worth a Continental."
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Hiromichi

[CP]

Mary Peck Butterworth was a counterfeiter around the end of the 18th century. You must be reading a story about the money of that time.

There is also a brand of maple syrup (or imitation maple syrup) called Mrs. Butterworth's. We Americans put maple syrup on pancakes / flapjacks / griddle cakes. The food is the pancake; the syrup is just a sweet topping on the food.

So the writer is taking advantage of the name Mrs. Butterworth to make a little lame joke by saying that Mary Peck Butterworth's counterfeiting (using an iron and an ink pen) was not the real problem back then. All kinds of other people began counterfeiting Continental currency (probably using much better techniques than Mrs. Butterworth's), until even the real thing became worthless.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[hiromichi]

CP,
I got it. Thank you for your cultural explanation.
Hiro
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Hiromichi