What can you do with brownie points?

Brownie points in modern usage are an imaginary social currency, which can be acquired by doing good deeds or earning favor in the eyes of another, often one’s spouse.

Are brownie points offensive?

Brownie points are imaginary merit points awarded for the performance of good deeds or favors, it is usually a derogatory term. The term brownie points is now used figuratively, independent of the Girl Scout organization, and is no longer capitalized.

What does it mean to win brownie points?

to get praise or approval for something you have done: I thought I could score some brownie points with my mother-in-law by offering to cook dinner.

Is brownie points an idiom?

Brownie Points Meaning This idiomatic phrase means an intangible award that is given to someone for doing something good for someone or for doing things that please someone else.

What’s another word for brownie points?

In this page you can discover 10 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for brownie-points, like: mark of merit, pat-on-the-back, credit, kudos, plaudits, points, praise, strokes, credibility and notability.

How do you give Brownies points?

to get praise or approval for something you have done: I thought I could score some brownie points with my mother-in-law by offering to cook dinner. By emphasizing its green credentials the company earns brownie points with consumers. She accepted complete responsibility, hoping to win some Brownie points.

What does the term brownie mean?

Definition of brownie 1 : a legendary good-natured elf that performs helpful services at night. 2 Brownie : a member of a program of the Girl Scouts for girls typically in the second and third grades in school. 3 : a small square or rectangle of rich usually chocolate cake often containing nuts.

Who came up with brownie points?

‘Brownie points’ is said to derive from: – The system of merits and demerits that was introduced into the work practices of the Fall Brook Railroad in New York State by Superintendent G. R. Brown from 1886 onward. The system was well used and widely known on the US and Canadian railroads in the 19th century.

Are brownie points American?

Further, the term “brownie points” started off in the school yard, working itself into student slang, and was recorded in the 1944 edition of American Speech: At some point this schoolyard slang percolated to members of the military during WWII where “brownie points” was used as a sarcastic sort of insult.

Where does the phrase brownie points come from?

Credit for a good deed, as in John earned a lot of brownie points for doing his boss’s report for him. The term originated with the points earned for various achievements by the youngest group of the Girl Scouts, called Brownies. In the mid-1900s it was transferred to general use.

What is better than brownie points?

What is brown nose origin?

Brown-nose came into use in the 1930s in the American armed forces, and is based on the image of the servile position of sticking one’s nose into someone’s anus. Surprisingly, though the idiom has a vulgar origin, the term brown-nose or brownnose is not currently considered to be a vulgar term.