Apple Polishing or Politeness?

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Apple Polishing refers to a kind of flattery.  The term Apple polishing has its origin to the common practice indulged by school-going children.  School children try to be in the good books of their teachers to win their approval and attention.  The easiest way of doing this was by flattering them or giving them gifts.  So the children took polished and gleaming apples to school to present it to their teachers.

Apple Polishing is a situation when you flatter a person to get a desired result from him.  A typical situation of a “Apple Polishing fallacy would be when an employee may unduly shower praises on his boss regarding his administrative skills.  “Apple Polishing” is a fallacy in that the person in this kind of fallacy showers praise on someone just to make them do the particular thing that he wants.  It is a type of wheel greasing where the person thinks he can win someone’s favor through excessive compliments and flattery, thus hiding the true intent of his proposal and distracting the receiver from true judgment.

Apple polishing begins with a bit of flattery that works into winning an argument.  The basic formula for apple polishing is the following:

1.       Use flattery to the person or audience to which you appeal,

2.      Make a claim or a request,

3.      Insist that since the flattery is true, the request or claim is valid.

References:

1.         http://www.innovateus.net/innopedia/what-apple-polishing - What is Apple Polishing?

2.         http://www.wisegeek.org/what-does-apple-polishing-mean.htm - What does "Apple Polishing" Mean?