Buzz
In a column for the Los Angeles Times dated March 15, 1951, journalist Marvin Miles took note of an unusual phrase gaining traction among his peers and in the social circles of the time. While in an elevator, he overheard a man nearby express frustration over 'lost brownie points.' Later, in a bar, a friend of Miles who had stayed out too late remarked that he could never 'make up' for his missing brownie points.
Miles was baffled. 'What kind of obscure group was this, immersed in fairy-tale arithmetic?' he wrote. His colleagues clarified that it was a method of 'keeping score' with their wives, tracking the goodwill they'd accumulated with the 'little woman.'
Over time, the term brownie points has come to be associated with the act of seeking favor, typically from figures of authority like teachers or bosses. But where did the phrase originate, and what does it mean to 'earn' them?
One of the most widely accepted explanations for the phrase is its connection to the Brownies, a division of the Girl Scouts who were encouraged to do good deeds in their communities. These younger scouts, often the siblings of older members, were initially called Rosebuds in the UK. The name was changed to Brownies when the first troops were formed in 1916. Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, named them after the helpful magical creatures in Scottish folklore that appeared to assist with household tasks.
However, the Brownies may not be the only source of the term. In the 1930s, children who volunteered to deliver magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and Ladies' Home Journal from Curtis Publishing were rewarded with vouchers called greenies and brownies that could be redeemed for prizes. Although they were never specifically referred to as brownie points, it's easy to imagine children applying a points system to the 'brownies' they collected.
The term could also trace its roots to wartime rationing in the 1940s, when red and brown ration points could be exchanged for meats.
The phrase didn’t truly gain traction until Miles’s column was published. In the context of his writing, the married men speaking to Miles believed that brownie points could be earned by husbands who remembered birthdays and anniversaries, picked up the dry cleaning, mailed letters, and refrained from spending too much time in pubs chatting with newspaper columnists. Their aim, these husbands explained, wasn’t to get ahead; they simply wanted to be seen as somewhat respectable in their wives’ eyes.
Later, possibly due to its appearance in print, grade school students began to use the term to describe an excessive desire to win favor with teachers. At a 1956 family and faculty meeting at Leon High in Tallahassee, Florida, the act of earning brownie points was described as a significant issue. Known also as apple polishing, it led to students shaming their peers for being overly friendly with teachers. As a result, some students were 'reluctant to be civil' for fear of being ridiculed for 'sucking up.'
Over the years, the phrase has come to refer to any action where one can expect goodwill in return, especially if it involves someone in a position to reward with higher grades or a promotion. As for Miles, the columnist confessed that his understanding of brownie points only came after an evening of deep investigation. Arriving home late, he humorously noted, left him 'pointless.'
