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Brownie points are a hypothetical currency, which can be accrued by doing good deeds or earning favor in the eyes of another, often one's superior. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
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The term derives from the name of a 19th century American railroad superintendent, George R. Brown who, in 1886, devised what was then an innovative system of merits and demerits for railroad employees on the Fall Brook Railway in New York state. Accounts of his system were published in railroad journals, and adopted by many leading U.S. railroads. American railroad employees soon began referring colloquially to "brownie points", and at some point, the term entered the general vocabulary.
Other conjectures for etymology
OED The Oxford English Dictionary conjectures that this expression could also have derived from U.S. military slang for sycophants, "brownnosers", while mentioning the less-likely but popular etymology that derives it from the awards system of the Brownies Girl Guides/Girl Scouts. "Brownie" itself in the sense of "brown-noser" was in use in the 1940s. The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is generally regarded as the most comprehensive and scholarly dictionary of the English language. ...
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Look up sycophant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
For additional meanings of the word Brownies see Brownie (disambiguation) Brownies is the name given to the junior branch of the Girl Guides, and dates back to 1915. ...
The OED reports its first appearance in print as 1963, though the origins of the phrase predate this. Its frequent appearance in newspapers in the 1950s date back to the earliest known usage in 1951, where a man in the Los Angeles Times speaks of earning favor with his wife in terms of brownie points.
Curtis Publishing In the 1930s, The Curtis Publishing Company, published several magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies Home Journal. These magazines were distributed to subscribers through a delivery network that used youths, primarily boys, to go around to the individual houses. The boys received a small commission, but in return for meeting certain sales targets, they could also receive company scrip, comprising green and brown vouchers. These vouchers were usually known as "greenies" and "brownies". Five greenies equalled one brownie. The greenies and brownies could be redeemed against goods from the company's catalogue. The Curtis Publishing Company was the Philadelphia-based company that published the Ladies Home Journal and the Saturday Evening Post, as well as several other magazines and newspapers. ...
There have been many publications called the Saturday Evening Post; several were/are local British newspapers. ...
A cover of Ladies Home Journal from 1906 Ladies Home Journal is a magazine first published February 16, 1883 as a womens supplement to the Tribune and Farmer. ...
Scrip is any substitute for currency which is not legal tender. ...
See also Egoboo is the rush received from public recognition of a free contribution, possibly derived from ego boost. The term is used to describe the motivational incentive for programmer participation within the open source movement and for volunteer participation in science fiction fandom. ...
Look up kudos in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Whuffie is the ephemeral, reputation-based currency of Cory Doctorows sci-fi novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. ...
References - Browne, K.J. Norman, "The Brown and Other Systems of Railway Discipline" Railway Gazette (London) 1923
- "Brownie, n. 1" The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed 14 Jul 2005
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