People who prepare and sell meat; or as a verb, to kill or cut roughly, often implying a messy or violent action.
From Old French 'bouchier' (one who slaughters animals), derived from 'bouc' (billy goat). The word entered English in the 1200s and gained the figurative meaning of 'to ruin or kill messily' by the 1500s.
Medieval butchers were so reviled—associated with blood, death, and waste—that the profession became a symbol of brutality. Calling someone a 'butcher' at their craft means they're incompetent and violent, yet modern butchers are often celebrated as artisanal food experts, showing how opinions about professions completely flip over centuries.
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