Social Butterfly

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Meaning:

A Social Butterfly is a person who is social or friendly with everyone, flitting from person to person, the way a butterfly might.

“Well, aren’t they a social butterfly”

Origin:

This phrase started out much different than how we use it today.

The 1837 quote states,

"He has too much goodness of heart to engage in the breaking of social butterflies upon the wheel of ridicule."

The quote appears to be making reference to a famous saying by Alexander Pope, "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?", found in the 1735 satirical poem, Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. Pope's reference to breaking a butterfly on a wheel alludes to the medieval practice of torturing people on a breaking wheel. "Breaking a butterfly on a wheel" would then be equivalent to an action that is so harsh or disproportionate that it becomes absurd. Back in the 1700s "social butterflies" were considered harmless people of little consequence who deserve no more punishment than to be ridiculed.

Over time, it appears that "social butterfly" has lost some of its negative meanings as a figure of ridicule and has gradually acquired more positive references to refer to a person who is friendly and sociable.

Example:

Today we still use “social butterfly” to express that a person likes to mingle at events, the life of the party. An example sentence is:

"Tom's always been something of a social butterfly, so we have never really worried about him making friends or finding his way in the world."

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