Brownie points

Brownie points are merit scores that are earned through good deeds or behaviour. It is originally an American expression that dates the 1950s and that is just about all that can be said about it with any degree of certainty. The origin of ‘brownie points’ is a matter of debate and conjecture amongst etymologists and many theories abound. The most favoured theory is that it derives from the Brownies, the female junior branch of the Girl Guides, where merits are awarded to Brownies in pursuit of various proficiency badges. Another theory maintains there are scatological influences at work in that the word ‘brownies’ is also recorded in both American student and military slang from the 1940s for people who brown nose their superiors. It is possible that ‘brownie points’ has drawn its origin from more than one source, especially when one considers that both these suggested origins are about earning merit, albeit in strikingly different ways.