what the butler saw
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A story or film of titillating activity observed by voyeurism.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Câu chuyện hoặc phim về hoạt động kích động được quan sát bằng việc tò mò
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Register: slang
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.
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “what the butler saw” mean?
A story or film of titillating activity observed by voyeurism.
Is “what the butler saw” formal or informal?
what the butler saw is generally slang.