If you soften someone up, you put them into a good mood before asking them to do something. (INFORMAL)
If they’d treated you well it was just to soften you up.
= butter up
PHRASAL VERB: V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you soften someone up, you put them into a good mood before asking them to do something. (INFORMAL)
If they’d treated you well it was just to soften you up.
= butter up
PHRASAL VERB: V n P, also V P n (not pron)
Collins COBUILD. Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) . 2012