teacher's pet
10
3.1
- noun
- /ˈtiːtʃərz pɛt/
- Informal
:
favorito del profesor
- Everyone knew that Sarah was the teacher's pet because she always got extra help from Mr. Smith.
- wanna be the teacher's pet
- become the teacher's pet
Examples
-
I mean, he's the teacher's pet.
-
At St. Roman, two kinds of kids stayed after school: those in detention and the teacher's pets who were invited to help the nuns clean the classrooms.
Fiction book (2001) -
I'll bet you were the teacher's pet.
-
"We're going to be teacher's pets, you and I."
Fiction book (1997) -
My grades were just as good... but everyone knew they were going to give the award to the teacher's pet.
-
I'm getting a teacher's pet reputation.
Fiction book (2001) -
You don't have to be a teacher's pet
-
They call you the "teacher's pet"?
-
Yet he somehow never allowed himself to lapse into the role of teacher's pet.
Fiction book (2001) -
Timmy received the highest marks and special privileges, making him the teacher's pet in the class.
How Favored
- Informal
10
3.1
- US
712
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
teacher's + pet
The possessive 'teacher's' plus 'pet' gives a clear clue that the phrase denotes someone belonging to or favored by the teacher, so a learner who knows the constituents can often infer a sense of special favour. However, 'pet' here is a conventional, metaphorical extension meaning 'favourite person', which is not the literal meaning of 'pet' (an animal) and may not be immediately predictable to all B1 learners without prior exposure or a comparable L1 metaphor.
Etymology
Teacher's pet may come from the image of a teacher treating one student like a favorite pet, giving that student extra care and praise. So, teacher's pet means 'a student who is especially favored' and gets extra attention or privileges.