Curry favor with
Today’s English expression is a little less common than most of the expressions we review, but it’s a good one to know. The expression is, “to curry favor with.” Sometimes you can break down an expression and guess its meaning; don’t try that with this expression.
To curry favor with someone is to try to get that person’s approval by giving that person a lot of attention or by flattering him. When we use “curry favor with,” someone is trying to seek approval from another person. You might want the approval of your parents, your boss, a sibling, a politician, a friend, or even a stranger. You could want their approval for emotional reasons or for more transactional reasons, like if you just want money or something.
And one way you can get that approval is by flattering the other person. When you flatter someone, you give that person insincere compliments, praise, or attention. So let’s put these two parts together. When you “curry favor with” someone, you do or say good things that maybe you don’t fully mean, but you say them because you think that will help you get the other person’s approval.
So let’s talk about how you heard it in today’s lesson about the HBO Max series “Succession.” Logan’s four children, and a cast of supporting characters, are all trying to curry favor with the ageing patriarch. They are all flattering him; they are all being insincere; they are all trying to gain Logan’s approval. And they’re doing it because they want something from him: they want power, they want money, or they want an influential job.
Large businesses often try to curry favor with influential politicians. Let’s take an example. A new governor is elected in a state, let’s pretend. The construction companies that build roads in the state will try to curry favor with the new governor.
Now these companies may or may not agree with the new governor’s policies; they keep their real opinions to themselves. But they say lots and lots of very nice things to the governor. They say lots and lots of nice things about the governor, and they say them very publicly. If the governor’s wife is on the board of a charity, those companies find it in their hearts to donate to that very same charity. They make sure to get their pictures taken when presenting the check.
They do all these things—which may or may not be fully sincere—they do these things because they want to get something. They want to get good or favorable treatment from that state government. This whole dance, this whole act of paying compliments and donating money—this is all to get something in return. We know this, right? And the term to describe it in English is, “curry favor with.” The big construction companies are currying favor with the newly elected governor.
I wasn’t feeling well one afternoon last week and I put on some TV—it was reruns of “The Office,” the television show. And one episode I saw was the episode where Michael leaves Dunder Mifflin to go to Colorado. A new boss takes over. And in this episode, Michael introduces the new boss to the whole office.
And guess what happens? Everyone tries to curry favor with the new boss. They give the new boss a lot of attention. They all do everything they can to please the new boss. They pretend to share the same interests as the new boss. They pretend to have new, innovative ideas to impress the new boss. They all pay the boss lots of insincere compliments. They do this because they want influence, they want his approval. They are currying favor with the new boss.
JR’s song of the week
JR’s song of the week is “This Is The Life” by Mickey. It’s the artist playing the acoustic guitar, whistling, and singing, sometimes with a background chorus. The expression, “This is the life” means, “I’ve got a good life.” One line that repeats is, “And you’re singing the songs, thinking ‘this is the life.'” So it talks about a singer who sings his song, thinking he’s got a great life. But there’s another line that repeats, which is, “Where are you going to sleep tonight?”
Those two lines together capture the life of many creatives: they’re happy when they’re singing their songs, but they don’t have the stability that a lot of us have in our lives. So thanks JR for the song of the week today, “This Is The Life” by Mickey.
See you next time!
And that’s all for today. I’ll post a few clips of “Succession” in the Facebook group, so you can see these characters for yourself. If you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear what you thought, too. Join the group by visiting PlainEnglish.com/Facebook .
We’ll be back on Monday with a new lesson—see you then.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
