Question

kowtow verb Kowtow originated as a noun referring to the act of kneeling and touching one's head to the ground as a salute or act of worship to a revered authority. In traditional China this ritual was performed by commoners making requests to the local magistrate, by the emperor to the shrine of Confucius, or by foreign representatives appearing before the emperor to establish trade relations. (In the late 18th century, some Western nations resisted performing the ritual, which acknowledged the Chinese emperor as the "son of heaven.") The word kowtow derives from Chinese koutou, formed by combining the verb kou ("to knock") with the noun tou ("head"). 1 : to show obsequious deference : fawn2 : to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in token of homage, worship, or deep respect

Accepted Answer

December 21, 2019 KOW-tow "[Cyndi] Lauper wanted a hit record. She wanted one badly after PolyGram dropped her first band Blue Angel following a failed debut in 1980. But she wouldn't kowtow to music execs in pursuit of that hit." — Jed Gottlieb, The Boston Herald, 17 Nov. 2018"I sense people are hungry for something new, and sick of fiction that lazily kowtows to the reader or, God help us, the 'market.'" — Lucy Ellmann, quoted in The New Statesman, 11 Nov. 2019

Word	kowtow
Date	December 21, 2019
Type	verb
Syllables	KOW-tow
Etymology	Kowtow originated as a noun referring to the act of kneeling and touching one's head to the ground as a salute or act of worship to a revered authority. In traditional China this ritual was performed by commoners making requests to the local magistrate, by the emperor to the shrine of Confucius, or by foreign representatives appearing before the emperor to establish trade relations. (In the late 18th century, some Western nations resisted performing the ritual, which acknowledged the Chinese emperor as the "son of heaven.") The word kowtow derives from Chinese koutou, formed by combining the verb kou ("to knock") with the noun tou ("head").
Examples	"[Cyndi] Lauper wanted a hit record. She wanted one badly after PolyGram dropped her first band Blue Angel following a failed debut in 1980. But she wouldn't kowtow to music execs in pursuit of that hit." — Jed Gottlieb, The Boston Herald, 17 Nov. 2018 "I sense people are hungry for something new, and sick of fiction that lazily kowtows to the reader or, God help us, the 'market.'" — Lucy Ellmann, quoted in The New Statesman, 11 Nov. 2019
Definition	1 : to show obsequious deference : fawn 2 : to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in token of homage, worship, or deep respect

Kowtow Emperor Verb Noun Act Ground Chinese Wanted