🧎♂️ Bow and Scrape, To 🧎♀️
Definition: To behave obsequiously, to show too much deference. The term literally means to bow one’s head and draw back one foot, which then scrapes the ground. A cliché since the mid-nineteenth century, it is becoming as obsolete as the custom of bowing has, at least in the Western world.
Synonyms: Grovel, fawn, kowtow, prostrate oneself, be servile, suck up (informal but succinctly apt).
Antonyms: Defy, rebel, challenge, stand up to.
Related Idioms and Expressions:
- Kiss the ground someone walks on: To excessively admire or show reverence to someone.
- Sugarcoat: To be excessively considerate or sweet in presenting something.
- Bend over backward: Go to great lengths to please or accommodate someone.
Humor-Filled Quotes:
- “I hate victims who respect their executioners.” — Jean-Paul Sartre.
- “Why do you always insist on bowing and scraping? Next, you’ll be licking their boots clean!” — An indignant character from a Victorian novel surely.
Similar Proverbs:
- “Do not be a slave to others’ praise.”
Literature, Books, Songs, Poetry, and Movies Suggested:
- Book: “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift (for its critique on servility).
- Song: “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon (for some spice, even though it’s inverse bowing and scraping).
- Movie: “The Devil Wears Prada” (a modern-day take on obsequiousness in the workplace).
- Poetry: “If” by Rudyard Kipling (for a contrast in tone with sage advice).
Related and Similar Terms Explained in a Fun Way:
- Kowtow: Similar to bowing and scraping but originally from Chinese culture, quite literally means to kneel and touch the ground with the forehead in deep reverence.
- Fawning: Basically treating someone like they’re a crowned prince/princess every time they sneeze.
- Door Mat: If ‘bow and scrape’ was a household item, this is what it would be. Because, hello, foot-wiping!
Farewell from “The Dictionary of Idioms, Clichés, and Expressions” penned by yours truly, Sy Cophant, where language bows and curls into shapes most whimsical, and lessons are but words infused with wit. Until our lexicons intertwine again! 🌟
