Apple-polisher

[Tom Kysilko]

If my coworkers are any indication, "apple-polisher" is starting to fade
from the scene.  In a group of 13 of them five of the youngest were
unfamiliar with the term, including a college student in elementary ed who
was familiar with "apple for the teacher".

Here they are by gender, age, where they grew up, and Y/N familiar with
"apple-polisher".  (TC = Twin Cities)

F 20 TC         N
F 20 TC         N
F 24 No WI      N
M 25 SW WI      Y
F 29 TC         N
M 34 TC         N
F 36 SE WI      Y
F 47 So MN      Y
F 54 SE MI      Y
M 54 NE MN      Y
F 55 TC         Y
F 56 SE MN      Y
F 59 TC         Y

RHHDAS has citations from 1927 - 1988.  DARE seems to to consider it too
standard to merit much comment, unlike apple-shiner, apple-knock and apple
up.  It occurs without label in MW3, while RHUD and AH4 call it informal,
but not old-fashioned.

While I've know the term for as long as I can remember, my term of choice
(except in very polite company) has always been "brownie" or "brown-noser".

  Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
  pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA