To refer to someone as a teacher’s pet is not a compliment, in fact it is an insult. We’ll look at the definition of teacher’s pet, what it implies and when the term first came into use. In addition, we’ll examine a few examples of the use of the term teacher’s pet in sentences.
A teacher’s pet is a person who is the favorite of the teacher. A teacher’s pet receives preferential treatment from the teacher, he is allowed to do things that other students are not allowed to do and encouraged in a way that other students are not encouraged. As may be expected, the other students in a class are not fond of the teacher’s pet. Calling someone a teacher’s pet is an insult, it implies that the person does not deserve his high status and has an unfair advantage. The word pet in this case refers to a pampered or spoiled person. The idiom teacher’s pet was first seen in print around 1890, though it’s safe to assume that it was an epithet hurled around the schoolyard for many years before entering mainstream English. Today, the term teacher’s pet has been used as the title of several films, television shows and songs. Note that teacher’s is a singular, possessive noun. If someone is the pet of many teachers, he is a teachers’ pet. If discussing several children who are favorites of a teacher, the term is teacher’s pets.
Examples
You are a teacher’s pet alL right and your only aim is to stay in his/her good books. (The Hindu)
“I loved school,” said Renee, a self-described teacher’s pet. (The Buffalo News)
Leaders vie with each other to be teacher’s pet (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Check out some others we covered: