Antedating of "Brownie Point"

[Shapiro, Fred]

brownie point (OED 1963)

1951 _L.A. Times_ 15 Mar. A5 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)  You don't know about brownie points?  All my buddies keep score.  In fact every married male should know about 'em.  It's a way of figuring where you stand with the little woman -- favor or disfavor.  Started way back in the days of the leprechauns, I suppose, long before there were any doghouses.

[The article seems to derive the term from leprechauns (_brownie_ sense 1 in the OED) who calculated the points.  That etymology differs from that of OED and HDAS, which both associate the term with Girl scouts and brown-nosing.]

Fred Shapiro

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