# He's always sucking up to the boss



## Encolpius

Hello, I wonder what set phrase you use for the English "to suck up to sb". How would you translate this simple sentence? Thanks. 

*English*: He's always sucking up to the boss. 
*Hungarian*: Állandóan a főnök seggét nyalja. [to lick the boss's arse]


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## DearPrudence

In *French*:
(colloquial) *Il fait toujours de la lèche au patron *_[literally: he's doing some licking to the boss]_
(colloquial) *Il lèche toujours les bottes du patron *_[literally: he's licking the boss's boots]_
(colloquial) *Il cire toujours les pompes du patron* _[literally: he's polishing the boss's shoes]_
(very colloquial) *Il lèche toujours le cul du patron *_[literally: he's licking the boss's arse/ass]_


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## apmoy70

^^
Interesting, Greek too uses *«γλείφω»* [ˈɣlifo] --> _to lick, lick up_ < Byz.Gr *«γλείφω» gleíphō* (idem) < Classical v. *«ἐκλείχω» ĕkleíkʰō* --> _to lick up_ < compound; prefix, preposition and adverb *«ἐκ» ĕk* --> _out_ (PIE *h₁eǵʰs-/ *h₁eḱs- _out_ cf Lat. ex, ex- _out of, from_, Rus. из) + Classical v. *«λείχω» leíkʰō* --> _to lick_ (PIE *leiǵʰ- _to lick_ cf Skt. लेढि (leḍhi), _to lick_, Lat. lingere, _to lick (up)_, Proto-Germanic *likkōną, Proto-Slavic *lizati).
Το suck up to the boss: «Γλείφω το αφεντικό» [ˈɣlifo to afendiˈko]


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## Encolpius

I think licking might be related to the rectum, but I am not sure if the English suck up to is related to the frontal body parts. 
Of course now English natives can participate, too and surprise us with other "interesting" synonyms.


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## 810senior

In Japanese:

媚を売る to sell flattery
媚びへつらう to flatter
ご機嫌取りをする to do taking-humor
おべっかを使う/言う/する to use/say/do flattery
顔色をうかがう to see through (one's) face
しっぽを振る to swing (one's) tail
ぺこぺこする to nod frequently
胡麻をする to rub sesame c.f. to polish the apple
靴を舐める to lick (one's) shoes etc.

彼はいつも社長のご機嫌を取っている。 He always humors the boss.
lit. He's always taking the boss's humor. (I think this is the most formal expression to describe the situation)


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## ilocas2

Czech:

*lézt* (coll. *lýzt*) *do zadku*/*prdele*/*řiti*... - to creep into buttocks/ass/asshole...

Neustále leze šéfovi do zadku. - He/she always creeps into boss's buttocks.

*řitní/anální/rektální alpinismus* - asshole/anal/rectal alpinism
*řitní/anální/rektální alpinista* - asshole/anal/rectal alpinist

*vlezdoprdelismus* - creepintoassism
*vlezdoprdelka* - creepintoasser
*řiťolezec* - assholecreeper
etc. - many compounds of this kind


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## Dymn

*Catalan*:
_Llepar el cul_ (lit.: "to lick the arse"). _Sempre li està llepant el cul al cap.
Fer la rosca_ (lit.: "to do the nut/screw"). _Sempre li està fent la rosca al cap._

I must admit that I had never heard _fer la rosca_ before.

*Spanish*:
_Lamer el culo_ (lit.: "to lick the arse"). _Siempre le está lamiendo el culo al jefe.
Hacer la pelota_ (lit.: "to do the ball"). _Siempre le está haciendo la pelota al jefe._


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## Encolpius

810senior said:


> In Japanese: 顔色をうかがう to see through (one's) face





Diamant7 said:


> *Catalan*:
> _Fer la rosca_ (lit.: "to do the nut/screw"). _Sempre li està fent la rosca al cap._
> *Spanish*:
> _Hacer la pelota_ (lit.: "to do the ball"). _Siempre le está haciendo la pelota al jefe._



Hello, can you guys explain, do you natives see any origin of those phrases?

In Hungarian (and I think in English) "to see through somebody" means something completely different
to do the screw? to do the ball?


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## 810senior

Well it might be somewhat perplexing I guess.
顔色(kaoiro, lit. face color) exactly means 'expression or emotion in someone's face', so the action of seeing through his/her face means something like skillfully reading through it so you can react to his/her liking. I know the English phrasal verb, see through, is a definitely different thing. After all that's said and done I literally translated it, that's all I did.


Diamant7 said:


> *Spanish*:
> _Lamer el culo_ (lit.: "to lick the arse"). _Siempre le está lamiendo el culo al jefe.
> Hacer la pelota_ (lit.: "to do the ball"). _Siempre le está haciendo la pelota al jefe._



Can I know of the sense of ball?


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## ThomasK

Dutch (FL):
- hij wil *bij de baas in het gevlij komen* [come into flattery, lit.] - hij heeft *vleiende* woordjes voor zijn baas [vleien, to flatter; gevlij, derivation but "deviant' spelling]
- hij *smeert zijn baas stroop om de mond*/ he smears him syrup around the mouth
*zeem aan de baard* (FL) / ... honey to his beard (or simply chin)
- hij *flikflooit* (probably reduplication of _flik_- referring to _vleien_, flatter)
- *kontlikker* (ass-licker) [is very dysfemistic in my view...]


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## Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny

Polish: "Podlizuje się szefowi" - He licks up to the boss
A noun for such a person is "lizus" (licker?)


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## Karton Realista

Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny said:


> A noun for such a person is "lizus" (licker?)


Or lizodup, ass licker, depending on whether your co-workers are vulgar or not.


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## Dymn

Encolpius said:


> to do the screw? to do the ball?





810senior said:


> Can I know of the sense of ball?


According to this site, there are two theories:

_Pelote _was a name for somebody who exploited _pelotas _(prostitutes, literally "balls"). So, the _pelote _used to tell the _pelotas _to flatter and adulate the customers so they would come back more often.
During the 19th century, when king Ferdinand VII was playing billiards, the nobles who played with him used to put the balls in the right places so that he could win easily.
I have the impression that the first option is more correct than the second 

As for _fer la rosca_, I couldn't find any answer.


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## Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny

I'm no native speaker of Spanish, but "pelotas" to me are testicles.


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## Encolpius

Hello Chrzaszcsz and welcome to the Forum. We hope to see you here a lot. 

Interesting etymology of the pelotas.


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## 810senior

@diamonds, thanks for the explanation! I feel it so interesting too.


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## Dymn

Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny said:


> I'm no native speaker of Spanish, but "pelotas" to me are testicles.


And you're right, _pelotas _is also a slang term for "testicles", just like _balls _in English.


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## Armas

Finnish:

_nuoleskella_, frequentative of _nuolla_ "to lick"
_nuolla persettä_ "to lick (someone's) ass"
_hännystellä_ < _häntä_ "tail"
_mielistellä_ < _mieli_ "mind", _miellyttää_ "to please"
_liehitellä, liehakoida_, possibly from _lietsoa_ "to blow into fire with bellows" and figuratively "to stir up, to incite"


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## SuperXW

In Mandarin (Mainland China):

拍马屁 "to pat horse's ass"
(It is said to be a custom in Yuan Dynasty, when Mongolian ruled the country, people flattered each other by patting their horse’s ass and praising how good it was.)

擦鞋/擦皮鞋 "polish shoes / polish leather shoes”

巴结/讨好 (common words for “ingratiate”)

抱大腿 “to hug someone's thigh”
(A recent Internet slang word for “ingratiate”. Not widely used.)


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## Penyafort

Diamant7 said:


> *Catalan*:
> _Llepar el cul_ (lit.: "to lick the arse"). _Sempre li està llepant el cul al cap.
> Fer la rosca_ (lit.: "to do the nut/screw"). _Sempre li està fent la rosca al cap._
> 
> I must admit that I had never heard _fer la rosca_ before_._





Encolpius said:


> Hello, can you guys explain, do you natives see any origin of those phrases?
> 
> to do the screw? to do the ball?



_*Fer la rosca *_in Catalan (or _*hacer la rosca* _in Spanish) has nothing to do with "the screw" but either with the way peacocks display their plumage when courting (_hacer la rosca como los pavos_) or with _rosca _understood as a sort of ring-rolled pastry (_"untar la rosca"_).

Another coincidental one in Catalan and Spanish (and English) is "to (soft-)soap" somebody:
Do not "soft-soap" me!
(Catalan)* No m'ensabonis!*
(Spanish)* ¡No me des jabón! *(Also, *¡no me des coba!*)​
Probably related too to soap and hygiene is the nice Spanish one _*bailar el agua* a alguien_ "dance the water to someone".

And another interesting one, in Catalan, would be the onomatopeic one _*fer la gara-gara *a algú_.


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## Uriel-

Encolpius said:


> I think licking might be related to the rectum, but I am not sure if the English suck up to is related to the frontal body parts.
> Of course now English natives can participate, too and surprise us with other "interesting" synonyms.


While I would certainly guess that such sayings had their original basis in references to oral sex, I don't immediately think of that when I hear such expressions.
Some related ones from English:
To kiss ass (and the related ass-kisser or kiss-ass)
To brown-nose (you can imagine how that color got there), and brown-noser


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## Encolpius

Thanks, Uriel.


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## Uriel-

I live to keep you provided with quaint expressions in dubious taste, Encolpius.


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## Messquito

In English there's also *to butter someone up*.

In Chinese, I'd like to add 送高帽(to give top hats as gift)
Sometimes, with the right context, you can use only one character, 捧. 捧 means to make your palm like a scoop and hold something, which I don't think has a single-word equivalent in English.
There are also:
吹捧(to blow and to 捧)
奉承(奉=to 捧 respectfully, 承=to receive)
諛媚(諛=verbal flattery, 媚=visual/facial flattery)
諂媚(pretty much the same as the previous one)
阿諛
阿諛奉承(two of the aforementioned combined)
討好(to intend for good [impressions?] (to flatter with intentions))
逢迎(to welcome, to  comply[just to make him/her feel good?])
恭維(恭=to compliment, I don't know how to explain 維, though. (anyone?))
吮癰舐痔(to suck the ulcers and piles of someone)

And I believe all of the above are quite common and very well-known phrases (except maybe the last one).

In Hokkien, there are:
扶(phôo) (=Chinese 捧)
扶膦脬/扶卵葩(phôo-lān-pha) (to 捧 someone's scrotum)
扶挺(phôo-thánn) (to 捧 and support with palms)


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## KalAlbè

Haitian Creole:

*Fè ti sousou (nan pye)* = _Do a little sucking (on his/her foot). From souse = to suck._

*Li toujou fè ti sousou nan pye patron an.* = *English*: _He's always sucking up to the boss. _


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