FlagofFreedom  +  268639 Mon, 18 Sep 06 04:34 AM I doubt "get face" is the antonym of "lose face." Context: As soon as a person loses face, his or her honor is violated. FlagofFreedom Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004 Junior Member 78 Antonyms

	Nef  +  268647 Mon, 18 Sep 06 05:05 AM from www.answers.com save face Avoid humiliation or embarrassment, preserve dignity, as in Rather than fire him outright, they let him save face by accepting his resignation. The phrase, which uses face in the sense of "outward appearances," is modeled on the antonym lose face. [Late 1800s] -------------------------- I think I've also heard "gain face" used, but I couldn't find this term when I searched for it in a couple of dictionaries and on the answers.com site. Nef Joined on Sun, Jan 1 2006 California, USA Regular Member 638 Antonyms

	FlagofFreedom  +  268681 Mon, 18 Sep 06 06:49 AM "Save face" is too conservative in meaning to meet my need. What I want is "get a lot of favor or dignity." For example, among so many ministers, only Jack was praised and awarded for the event by the emperor. Some congratulated Jack "you 'get a lot of face'." Saying "you save face" seems obviously not proper in the case. Of course I am not sure whether "you 'get a lot of face'" is proper English. FlagofFreedom

	khoff  +  268683 Mon, 18 Sep 06 07:10 AM Your instincts are good.  You're right, "save face" is not what you need in this example, but "get face" or "you get a lot of face" is definitely NOT idiomatic English!  In fact, I can't really think of a simple, idomatic way of saying this in English - I believe that we took the term and the idea for "losing face" from the Chinese, but apparently we never adopted the opposite idea enough to give it a simple term.  You would have to say something more complicated like "He was singled out for commendation" or "The Emperor gave him a great honor by praising him publicly" or "The Emperor's attention enhanced his reputation" or "he gained a lot of respect when the Emperor praised him."  Something like that. Can anyone think of a more idiomatic way to say this in English?  Am I missing something obvious? (I should never read English forums late at night - I start second-guessing everything I write!) khoff Joined on Sun, Mar 6 2005 Senior Member 3,272 Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert)

	MrPedantic  +  268688 Mon, 18 Sep 06 07:58 AM Perhaps: 1. He lost face by opposing Darwin's theory of evolution. 2. He gained kudos by opposing Darwin's theory of evolution. Though I don't much care for "gained kudos". I'm sure there must be something better. MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,592 ...opella forensis / adducit febris...

	FlagofFreedom  +  268704 Mon, 18 Sep 06 08:51 AM "Gained/received kudos" is good when spoken by third person. But it seems not so natural when second person or you spoke something like "Brother, you gained/received kudos" (Chinglish: You've got a lot of face, brother.) FlagofFreedom

	Grammar Geek  +  268794 Mon, 18 Sep 06 02:19 PM What's wrong with "You've really earned their respect?" Does it have to idiomatic? Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,678 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!