Butter knives have big heavy handles. Whenever you put the knife on your plate or in the butter dish, the heaviest part of the knife is hanging off the edge. If the blade were heavier than the handle, there would be a smaller chance that the knife would slide onto the table or the floor. This could be easily accomplished by making the handle from a lighter material like wood or plastic, and possibly making the dull edge of the blade thicker.
-- whippinggas, Apr 11 2005

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