sycophant

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The Word of the Day for July 4 is:

sycophant   \SIK-uh-funt\   noun
     : a servile self-seeking flatterer

Example sentence:
     "I can't stand sycophants," said Rosemary, "so if you want that promotion, 
do your best and let your work speak for itself."

Did you know?
     In ancient Greece, "sykophantes" meant "slanderer." It derives from two 
other Greek words, "sykon" (meaning "fig") and "phainein" (meaning "to show or 
reveal"). How did fig revealers become slanderers? One theory has to do with 
the taxes Greek farmers were required to pay on the figs they brought to 
market. Apparently, the farmers would sometimes try to avoid making the 
payments, but squealers -- fig revealers -- would fink on them, and they would 
be forced to pay. Another possible source is a sense of the word "fig" meaning 
"a gesture or sign of contempt (as thrusting a thumb between two fingers)." In 
any case, Latin retained the "swindler" sense when it borrowed a version of 
"sykophantes," but by the time English speakers in the 16th century borrowed it 
as "sycophant," the squealers had become flatterers. 




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