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3. butter wouldn't melt in one's mouth

butter wouldn't melt in one's mouth

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butter wouldn't melt in one's mouth

Be overly coy or demure; be insincere. For example, She looked quite innocent, as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, but we knew better . Already a proverb in John Heywood's collection of 1546, this metaphoric expression alleges that one is literally so cool that butter inside the mouth would not melt.

See also: butter, melt, mouth