Talk:fish for compliments
Latest comment: 4 years ago by BD2412 in topic RFD discussion: January–June 2019
The following information has failed Wiktionary's deletion process (permalink).
It should not be re-entered without careful consideration.
SOP. 32.210.179.170 20:52, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
- The definition may need refining. My understanding has always been that "fishing for compliments" involved making overly humble or self-effacing comments in the hope that another person will counter them with praise. bd2412 T 21:05, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
- I would comment that (AFAIK) you can't be said to "fish for flattery" or "fish for love" etc. even though you could equally well use emotional manipulation to get those things. Equinox ◑ 22:35, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
- There are a number of Google Book Search hits for "fishing for flattery", and one or two for "fishing for love", along with hits for fishing for information, details, clues, an admission, the right answer, confirmation, news, gossip, and so on and so forth. I don't see anything much special about "compliments". Mihia (talk) 01:05, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
- I should add, apropos of a comment that I made above in relation to "lose one's virginity", that there is nothing special except that it is a common collocation. AFAIAA from previous discussions, there is presently no rule for including common collocations that are straightforward SOP, but perhaps that is open to discussion. Mihia (talk) 01:40, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
- There are a number of Google Book Search hits for "fishing for flattery", and one or two for "fishing for love", along with hits for fishing for information, details, clues, an admission, the right answer, confirmation, news, gossip, and so on and so forth. I don't see anything much special about "compliments". Mihia (talk) 01:05, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
- Delete. Easy enough SOP. Mihia (talk) 00:56, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
- The strange thing (in my eyes) is that there is also the verb angle with a sense of “attempt to subtly persuade someone to offer a desired thing”. One can be angling for a promotion, or a spot on a committee, or a contract. But when the desired thing is getting a compliment, the idiomatically preferred verb switches to fish. --Lambiam 14:56, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
Inclined to keep per Equinox. Per utramque cavernam 19:24, 24 January 2019 (UTC)- Abstain. Per utramque cavernam 19:36, 31 January 2019 (UTC)
- Delete, one can fish for information, fish for trouble, etc. - TheDaveRoss 14:24, 30 January 2019 (UTC)
- Delete. It is far-fetched to look this phrase up, there is nothing special about the sum. Fay Freak (talk) 02:56, 14 February 2019 (UTC)
Deleted. bd2412 T 17:49, 1 June 2019 (UTC)