brownie point
5
4.4
- noun
- /ˈbraʊni pɔɪnt/
- Informal
:
punto brownie
- I helped my neighbor with her groceries, and now I feel like I earned some brownie points.
- get brownie points
- win brownie points
- score brownie points
We don't have much room for it, but we wanted to be able to look cool for the extra brownie points and sound good.
- We don't have much room for it, but we wanted to be able to look cool for the extra brownie points and sound good.
- Kevin, I think that you've gotten all the mileage out of not using the vetoes and in as in terms of brownie points.
- And then you get sort of rivalries between them and, and you maybe can earn brownie points by, you know, being teacher's pet by providing some Intel.
- There's a lot of virtue signaling, there's a lot of morality brownie points that are thrown about depending on what dietary tribe you choose to adopt, right?
Examples
-
I can't tell you how many brownie points you will earn by doing that.
Blog text (19) -
I'm not here looking to win brownie points or looking for recognition.
Blog text (18) -
Did it get me brownie points right on the spot?
-
Because it scored the political brownie points it needed.
Blog text (13) -
You go for what will bring you brownie points in the editor's eyes.
Blog text (25) -
If you apologize and say that they look good for their age, then you will get brownie points.
Blog text (26) -
Do I get bonus brownie points for also having been a guest poster on your site?
Blog text (25) -
But I got major brownie points from ROF for taking him here.
Blog text (12) -
Didn't she deserve some brownie points for being here at all this evening?
Fiction book (1995) -
He got tremendous brownie points and kudos and credit from the community for trying so hard.
Synonyms
829
2.4
Praise or public recognition for something someone did
4
6.0
A short public thank you or recognition given to someone, often in writing
How Appreciated
328
1.3
- Formal
39
6.8
161
1.0
- Informal
5
4.4
- US
11
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
brownie + point
The sense 'an informal mark of approval or credit' is not transparently built from 'brownie' (which is either a dessert or an opaque label here) plus 'point' (a scoring unit): there is no literal or compositional link that would lead a learner to the idiomatic meaning. The phrase is culture-specific and historically derived, so its meaning is unpredictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Brownie point may come from the small tokens or points given to Brownies, young members of the Girl Guides, when they did good deeds. So, getting a brownie point means receiving a little 'credit' or 'approval' for something helpful you did.