# suck up



## 123xyz

Hello everybody,

Could someone tell me how to say "suck up (to someone)" in Dutch, i.e. "act obsequiously in the hope of winning someone's favour"? I know of the noun "strooplikker" - now I need a single verb equivalent of "zich als een strooplikker gedragen". Meanwhile, I have found "afzuigen", but that means "suck up" in a literal sense. Likewise, I have found a sentence containing the word sequence "wij likken omhoog", presumably meaning "we suck up to the ones who have power over us", but "likken" simply means "lick", and I don't think that it can be used to mean "suck up" in any context.

P.S. I know "vleien", but I was hoping that there might be something closer to the English "suck up", especially more pejorative.

Example context:

Tom got a promotion because he sucked up to his boss.

Thank you in advance


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## Peterdg

In Belgian Dutch there is "mouwvegen". I don't know if it is known in the Netherlands.


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## Red Arrow

''Gatlikken'' is also used, but I think ''kontlikken'' is more common in the Netherlands.

The nouns are ''gatlikker'' and ''kontlikker''.


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## 123xyz

Could you tell me how those verbs are used in relation to the arguments in a given sentence?

Is it something like this:

Tom veegt de mouw van zijn baas.
Tom likt het gat (de kont) van zijn baas.

I have the feeling that separating these verbs is incorrect, but keeping them together (e.g. "Tom mouwveegt zijn baas") sounds even worse.


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## Red Arrow

123xyz said:


> Could you tell me how those verbs are used in relation to the arguments in a given sentence?
> 
> Is it something like this:
> 
> Tom veegt de mouw van zijn baas.
> Tom likt het gat (de kont) van zijn baas.
> 
> I have the feeling that separating these verbs is incorrect, but keeping them together (e.g. "Tom mouwveegt zijn baas") sounds even worse.


I would say it like this:
''Tom is weer aan het gatlikken.''
or ''Tom is toch echt een gatlikker, he!''
or maybe in written language: ''Wat is Tom een gatlikker!''

If you _really _want to conjugate it properly, it would be: ''Tom gatlikte zijn baas.'' But it doesn't sound natural to me.


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## Hans Molenslag

_slijmen bij de baas
in een goed blaadje proberen te komen bij de baas_


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## bibibiben

Slijmen bij de baas, de baas z'n kont/gat likken, een bruine arm halen bij de baas, zich inlikken bij de baas.

_Slijmen bij de baas _could very well be the most suitable translation for _to suck up to the boss._


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## 123xyz

Thank you for the additional replies. I also like "slijmen bij X" the best.


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## petoe

Iets minder vulgair dan kontlikken: iemands hielen likken, een hielenlikker.
Ik vond ook leuke synoniemen als kruiper, vleier, pluimstrijker, slijmerd, slijmbal en slijmjurk.


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## ThomasK

Mooi, inderdaad!


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