
What Does “lick someone’s boots” mean?
Definition:
The phrase lick someone’s boots means to act in a servile or obsequious way toward someone, especially to gain favor from them.
Origin
Shakespeare used the phrase ‘lick someone’s shoe’ in The Tempest (3:2) when Caliban wants to serve Stephano rather than Trinculo, offering to lick his shoe
CALIBAN
CALIBAN
How does thy honour? Let me lick thy shoe.
I’ll not serve him; he’s not valiant.
The phrase describes a person who treats someone powerful with too much respect to get approval or some favor.
Other related expressions are the following:
– Boot-licking: the act of licking someone’s boots.
– Buttering up someone: pleasing someone, especially by praising that person in order to get him or her to agree to something.
Example(s)
She seizes every opportunity to lick the boss’s boots.
He was served by some obsequious employees ready to lick his boots to get promotions.