Meaning of what the butler saw | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A story or film of titillating activity observed by voyeurism.
   UK, attributive, often, slang
2. A mutoscope; an amusement machine that shows a sequence of images or animation, often of a titillating nature, viewed via a peephole
   UK, attributive

Examples

“For the next fifteen years he would make some 500 short films there – conjuring turns, fairy stories, burlesques, what-the-butler-saws, literary adaptations, fantastic voyages and reconstructed newsreels – of which about a fifth have survived.”

“When a male supervisor in Night Shift watches the women working at the machines, the female narrator is reminded of "some pier Peeping Tom, getting the story of 'what the butler saw' from a penny slot machine"”

“In Last Tango, we encounter another cast of off-the-wall characters (does Wales really have this many eccentrics?) as Louie becomes involved in Aberystwyth's 'What the Butler Saw' film industry.”

“Suggesting a 'What The Butler Saw' salacious storyline, the title instead appears to be a juvenile play on the 'Stanley 3-in-1 saw' DIY tool.”

“There are two main types­—the machine working on the "What the butler saw" principle, where a knob is turned for the answer and the next exciting instalment, and "a programmed text- book" with questions on one side of the page and answers covered up by a flap on the other”

“His scheme, which incorporates a 'what the butler saw emporium', two museums, a long bar and a 'fabulous' submerged restaurant has, perhaps more than the professional winners, caught the traditional rich-mix pier-head flavour.”

“the fairground – women wanting to read your palm, a what-the-butler-saw, the waxworks, the dodgems, ghost train, tunnel of love...”

CEFR level