student asking question

What does “brown-nose” mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Good question! ‘Brown-nose’ is verb indicating a way of trying really hard to please someone, especially one in authority. Other people might find this behavior unpleasant. The phrase ‘brown-nose’ is believed to have originated from the term ‘ass kissing’ which also means trying hard to impress a superior. The nose turned brown from too much ass kissing. Ex: The class was sick of watching him brown-nose the teacher.

Popular Q&As

03/22

Complete the expression with a quiz!