What does ser pelota mean:?::confused:

I moved this question here from this thread. :)

It means 'to be a brown-noser (suck-up).'

It's definitely an idiom then, because I never would have guessed that. :)

There are cruder and more vulgar ways to say this in Spanish and English. I won't go there.

In American English we also say:
to be nice to someone
to butter someone up
to kiss up to someone
to flatter someone

For 'flatter,' I believe you can use adular and halagar in Spanish, but I'm not certain these carry the same meaning as ser pelota.

Adular, halagar, ser pelota significan lo mismo, pero ser pelota es coloquial.
Se pueden usar también los adjetivos: halagador/a, adulador/a y pelotero/a.

Pelotero... Is that a real word or are you kidding?

I can't believe you, Iris. You never heard of qué pelotero eres? Ask your sons and daughters ;).

No, never heard. I always say "qué pelota eres". You make it sound as if I had twenty children and it's "just" three: two boys and a girl.:)

I have heard dar jabon used by portorriqueños to mean flatter. Can you use pelotear for to flatter in Spain? Has anyone else heard the term dar jabon?

Poli