Pull a Butler

To "Butler" or to "Pull a Butler" is to assure someone or (more usually) a group of people their interests are being tended to, while simultaneously demonstrating that you have neither the power or inclination to do so.

It is believed to derive from butlers of the 19th century being notoriously unreliable. A competing theory posits that it originates from the north-east Kansas region.

Analogous to the expression: "Barth-up" paperwork.

"Dude I've been practicing the lines to 'Hamlet' for months and now the day before the performance the theater director is telling me we're actually gonna do 'The Producers'"

"HA! Damned if he didn't just pull a Butler on you, sucka!"

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