Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(mainly UK northern) a sandwich; thus jam butty, chip butty etc.

1891		Cheshire Obs. 17 Jan. 6/6: I never thought when i used to count the ‘butties’ at Nant that I would some day have to buy the loaf for you.
1906		Whitby Gaz. 2 Mar. 2/2: She’s such a one for butties as never was [...] jam butty and treacle butty.
1912		Manchester Courier 29 Nov. 13/1: She never sends them out without a jam butty and a drink of weak tea.
1929		Gloucester Citizen 6 Nov. 6/3: I , and thousands like me, was brought up on jam ‘butties’ (bread and jam), sugar ‘butties’, condensed milk ’butties’ and treacle ‘butties’.
1948		Burnley Exp. 14 July 1/5: A treasure hunt, in which a ‘jam-butty’ was one of the objects, caused much merriment.
1959		I. & P. Opie Lore and Lang. of Schoolchildren (1977) 182: Spread it on the butty nice and thick.
1968		Times 2/F: The air was thick with memories of butties and cod, and Wallies (pickled gherkins to the barbarian).
1975		A. Bleasdale Scully 51: I was making for the playground to see if anyone had any butties to spare.
1977		(con. 1940–50s) Nicholson & Smith Spend, Spend, Spend (1978) 84: I got up to cook some chip butties for them.
1985		Beano Comic Library No. 79 17: Fatty bacon butties.
1995		M. Simpson ‘Prufrock Scoused’ Catching Up with Hist. 21: Dreamin yer life away [...] before tuckin in t yer bacon butties.
2000		Indep. Rev. 17 Feb. 1: People came in the next day and asked her not to spit on their butties.
2009		J. Joso Soothing Music for Stray Cats 54: He got dead cross and said [...] that what he wanted was a buttie.
2012		J. Fagan Panopticon (2013) 29: A butty in bed and a book, sound!