See Also: FRIENDSHIP, WORDS OF PRAISE

1. As a wolf is like a dog, so is a flatterer like a friend —Thomas Fuller
2. Bang compliments backwards and forwards, like two asses scrubbing one another —Jonathan Swift
3. Bask in it [flattery] like a sunflower —Tennessee Williams
4. A compliment is something like a kiss through a veil —Victor Hugo
5. Compliments are like perfume, to be inhaled, not swallowed —Charles Clark Munn
6. Fawn like dogs —Percy Bysshe Shelley
7. Flattered me like a dog —William Shakespeare

   Shakespeare’s simile from King Lear continues with, “And told me I had white hairs in my beard ‘ere the black ones were there.”

8. Flatterers, like cats, lick and then scratch —German proverb
9. Flatterers look like friends, as wolves like dogs —George Chapman
10. Flattering as a testimonial dinner —Anon
11. Flattery is like a cigarette; it is all right if you don’t inhale —Adlai Stevenson
12. Flattery … is like a qualmish liqueur in the midst of a bottle of wine —Benjamin Disraeli
13. Flattery is like champagne, it soon gets into the head —William Brown
14. Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt of, not swallowed —Josh Billings Paraphrased from Billings’

    phonetic dialect which reads: “Flattery is like Kolone water, tew be smelt of, not swallowed.”

15. Flattery is like friendship in show, but not in fruit —Socrates
16. Flattery is like wine, which exhilarates a man for a moment, but usually ends up going to his head and making him act foolish —Helen Rowland
17. (Twilight was) kind as candlelight to a bad face lift —Paige Mitchell
18. An overdose of praise is like ten lumps of sugar in coffee; only a very few people can swallow it —Emily Post
19. Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity —Samuel Johnson
20. Some folks pay a compliment like they went down in their pocket for it —Kin Hubbard

(See also COMMENDATION, OBSEQUIOUSNESS.)

applesauce See NONSENSE.

blarney Flattery, soft soap, cajolery. The expression comes from the Blarney Stone located high in the wall of Blarney Castle near Cork, Ireland. Legend has it that an Irish commander of the castle by his cleverly evasive communiqués successfully duped an English commander demanding its surrender. A similar gift of forked or honeyed speech is thus said to come to whoever kisses the stone. The verb usage of blarney dates from 1803; the noun usage from shortly thereafter.

court holy water Flattery, hollow promises, fair but empty words; also court-water and court-element. The French equivalent phrase is eau bénite de la cour. According to Le Roux’s Dictionnaire Comique, unfounded promises or empty compliments were called court holy water because there was no lack of fair promises in court, just as there is no lack of holy water in church. This obsolete proverbial expression dates from 1583.

flannelmouth A smooth talker; a silver-tongued devil; a flatterer or braggart; a person who talks incessantly and says nothing; one who mumbles or speaks with a thick accent. In this expression, flannel, a smooth, soft fabric, refers to a person’s manner of speech: it may be smooth and soft like flannel, or it may be mumbled and confusing, as though the speaker had a mouthful of flannel.

lay it on To flatter or criticize excessively; to act or speak in an exaggerated manner. This expression alludes to the manual-labor trades such as masonry and painting where one might add more and more mortar, paint, etc., in an attempt to produce a superior product when, in actuality, a small amount would be just as, if not more, effective. As a result of such excessiveness, the final product is often messy and of questionable value. The figurative implications are obvious. Related expressions include lay it on thick, lay it on with a shovel, and lay it on with a trowel.

soft-soap To wheedle or cajole; to win over or persuade by means of flattery; to butter someone up for ulterior motives. In use since the early 18th century, the verb and corresponding noun are thought to derive from soft soap, the semiliquid soap whose oiliness might well be linked with unctuous-ness.