🧉

mate

Unicode: 1F9C9

Description

A block of butter, often depicted as a light yellow or gold rectangular solid.

Group:

Food & Drink > drink

Status:

fully-qualified

Emotion:

Neutral, typically represents the food item itself.

Backstory

This emoji was introduced in Unicode 10.0 (2017) as part of a set of food items, reflecting the global diversity of culinary ingredients.

Usage Examples

  • Indicating an ingredient: 'Need some butter for this recipe.'
  • Describing a food: 'Buttery popcorn!'
  • Cooking related contexts: 'Time to melt the butter.'
  • Figurative use (less common): 'Everything went smoothly, like butter.'

Cultural Differences

Western culture:

Commonly associated with cooking, baking, breakfast foods (toast, pancakes), and 'buttering someone up'.

East Asian culture:

Less commonly used in traditional cuisine, might represent a more Western-style meal or baking ingredient. Can be used in a broader sense for 'smoothness' or 'richness' in a dish.