Eggs and butter

sunnychenIs "eggs and butter" an idiom? What does it mean?

If it is an idiom, it is misquoted.
The only similar idiom is "butter and egg money." That means the money that you have saved for a rainy day.

That is from Anne's House of Dreams, 1917. The language is outmoded, and she wrote in a rather quaint style even for her time. "Eggs and butter" is not an idiomatic expression, but I can see how one might think so. It merely means that she is loftier than the other women, that she would disdain mundane, homely conversation.

enoonThat is from Anne's House of Dreams, 1917.

I wish that posters would always give the source of their quotes. Unfortunately, they seldom do that.
If they did, we would realize that it is very old-fashioned or dialectical language and give a more informed answer.

Thanks a lot. I've been translating this book recently so now and then such expressions baffles me. I didn't realize that the language style of the author would affect understanding. I'll pay attention to that next time.

If you're interested in learning modern English you should focus on books, films, and other media published no earlier than, say, 1950 or so. Certainly anything written pre-WWII will be rife with vocabulary and stylistic choices long out of date.

sunnychenso now and then such expressions baffles me.

They baffle us, too. This book at 1917 is in the transition period between Victorian English and contemporary English.
Remember, in 1917 the society and the economy were very different from today. It is very easy to see the changes in language over the last 100 years.