Flattery or adulation was the act of complimenting a person profusely, often done in order to get something from them. Depending on who you asked, it could either be a strong motivator or a useless endeavor.
In 2152, Trip Tucker told Feezal Phlox he was flattered after she had rubbed her foot against his leg. (ENT: "Stigma")
In 2153, Tucker was again flattered when a Vissian cogenitor named itself after him. (ENT: "Cogenitor")
Later that year, Tucker told T'Pol he was flattered when he mistook her initiation of Vulcan neuro-pressure sessions for sexual overtures. (ENT: "The Xindi")
In 2266, James T. Kirk gave Doctor Leonard McCoy the job of instructing Charles Evans on the medical aspects of adolescence (i.e. puberty, etc). When McCoy suggested Kirk for the job, saying Charlie already looked up to him as a father figure, Kirk doubled down, saying flattery would get McCoy nowhere. (TOS: "Charlie X")
In 2267, when Kirk reasoned that he should have sensed Areel Shaw's presence on Starbase 11, like static electricity, Shaw assured him that "Flattery will get you everywhere" (TOS: "Court Martial")
In 2270, after McCoy praised Sarah April's intelligence and beauty, comparing it to the Capellan flower she wore, April assured him that flattery would get him everywhere. (TAS: "The Counter-Clock Incident")
In 2364, Anne Jameson told her husband Mark that he looked just as he did twenty years before. He responded that she flattered him. Later, while dying on Mordan IV, he told her that to him her hair looked golden instead of gray. Anne told him he was a flatterer. (TNG: "Too Short A Season")
Imitation was said to be the highest form of flattery. In 2368, Data reassured Timothy that he did not consider the boy's efforts to act like a Soong-type android to be silly, but rather flattering. (TNG: "Hero Worship")
In 2370, Kovat loudly accused Odo of flattering him, after Odo had called him "the most renowned conservator in all of Cardassia". (DS9: "Tribunal")
In 2373, Captain Kathryn Janeway sarcastically stated it was flattering that Q chose her to be his mate over a single-celled organism after he mentioned he could have also chosen a Cyrillian microbe. (VOY: "The Q and the Grey")
See also[]
- Charisma
- Suck up