No one said anyone said anything that gave that impression. I'm guessing that poster, like myself, simply pictures that trying to put butter onto each bite would necessitate the use of more butter.
Those of us that are unfamiliar with this etiquette rule are finding it hard to visualize. The
youtube video posted above helped, but she really didn't eat and only showed one bite. As many of us have said, it's hard to visualize it not looking like "playing with your food" and it seems like simply buttering and then eating your bread would be less obtrusive.
I have to say it again because I find it so amazing. I'm REALLY tempted to bring up an old thank you note thread and compare and see if some of these people so appalled at the bad manners of those of us who don't know this rule are people who think nothing of no written thank yous.
Obviously people have very differing definitions of what makes up bad manners.
I haven't watched the video (and btw, I'm a supporter of the handwritten thank you note), but it's not anything like playing with your food.
First, bread is meant to be torn, in a general sense - like challah. It's not strange to break bread and not cut it.
Second, as much as someone who would, say, cut a whole roll and then butter the whole roll likely not then eat the entire roll right then, the same thing here.
If we were out to dinner, we might sit down, get water, menus, etc. Order drinks, order apps, get a basket of bread and butter or oil.
I might select a roll or piece of bread from the basket and put it on my bread plate. If there's butter not oil, I'd take a serving (like enough for the roll) of butter from the crock and put it on the edge of my bread plate. I might take a piece of roll, dab butter on, consume it. Sip wine, talk. We talk, if I want more bread, I'd break off another piece, dab it with butter, eat, move on. It's not any more obtrusive than if you were picking up the whole half roll, biting it and putting it back down, save the small movements to break the piece of bread off and dab it with butter. It's not something you'd like, notice I wouldn't think. It's not like someone sits and breaks the bread up into small pieces and butters them and lines 'em up in some OCD manner. It's just ... if you and a friend were sitting in a cafe with coffees and sharing a big cookie. Same deal. You'd talk, sip coffee, break off a piece of cookie and eat it, sip, talk, etc. You wouldn't be biting from a giant cookie, you'd break off pieces as you went. If you saw someone sitting in a cafe, with a cup of coffee and a giant cookie, would you think they were 'playing with their food' if they ate it by breaking off bite-sized pieces? No, it's perfectly normal.
Same as eating challah. You want a piece, you break some off the loaf. If you want more later, you break off more.
The only thing not burdened by rules of etiquette were breathing and sleeping. I take that back, it was rude to breathe loudly.
