Pithy Words

O’Reilly is always asking for pithy comments and he loves to introduce words to his viewers (his favorite seems to be “bloviate” - which means to speak pompously and excessively). I’d like to suggest these two (from Wikipedia):

Sycophant (from the Greek sykophántēs)- which is a person who, acting in his or her own self interest, attempts to win favor by flattering one or more influential persons, with an undertone that these actions are executed at the cost of his or her own personal pride, principles, and peer respect. Such a manner is called obsequiousness (a noun), or obsequious (an adjective) which means “fawning”.

So, if you don’t mind, instead of calling people a “kiss-ass” or a “brown nose,” (which, to me are quite distasteful), call them what they truly are - a sycophant.

However, to call a person an obsequious sycophant would be redundant and pedantic (and you could even be accused of bloviating). But I wouldn’t let that stop me.