There he lays out a few potential etymologies for flatter, one of which is a Latin root meaning to "make big" as flattery would do to one's ego.

他在书中列出几个可能的词源，其中一个拉丁词源意指“使增大”，正如奉承(flattery)使人的自尊心膨胀。

youdao

Although men flatter themselves with their great actions, they are not so often the result of a great design as of chance.

人常为自己的壮举自鸣得意，但是他们的壮举往往只是偶然运气产物而非伟大构想的结果。

youdao

And from what I heard, Joseph contributed much to his deterioration, by a narrow-minded partiality which prompted him to flatter and pet him, as a boy, because he was the head of the old family.

据我所听到的，他之所以变坏，约瑟夫出力不少，出于一种狭隘的偏爱，约瑟夫在他还是小孩的时候就捧他，娇惯他，因为他是这古老家庭的主人。

youdao

You know, rainy, generally kind of cooler year round, not as many hills, a lot flatter,

很湿润，全年比较凉爽，没有很多山，有很多平原，

旧金山最棒 - SpeakingMax英语口语达人

The first was traders internally in a bank attempting to get the fixing moved a basis point or two either way so as to flatter their own trading books.

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Since most people flatter themselves as dauntless and inspired, Google's challenge casts a wide net and applications are piling into Twitter.

ENGADGET

At first blush, it seemed just as flat, but not flatter, but we'll reserve full judgement until we can use the keyboard for an extended period of time.

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