Renee Haines

Reader's question: There is no need to talk like an "apple polisher" when speaking to your boss.Could you explain “apple polisher”?

My comment:

An apple polisher is something of a liar. He or she will tell the boss anything they want to hear, whether it’s to keep a job or get a raise. This is a saying that first emerged in school, based on the practice of a student bringing a favorite teacher an apple for a treat. When the student polished the apple he gave to the teacher, his fellow students thought, wow, that’s going too far. He’s an “apple polisher.” On the job, the expression came to mean that it was okay to say a boss looked nice in her suit, but another to spend 15 minutes complimenting her in front of a large crowd about her suit. In that case, his fellow workers would smirk and call him an “apple polisher.”

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本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

Renee Haines is a reporter at the China Daily website. She is also good at audio and broadcasting.