Hi,

I've heard "do someone proud" a lot...Is it grammatically correct? what's wrong with "make someone proud" ?

 

Nothing is wrong with "make someone proud."

To do someone proud means the same thing, but is a more informal, colloquial expression. It is not gramatically correct.

 

Ok, thanks.

 

Just speculating, but I think there's a slight difference between the two.

If I say 'you make me proud' I'm saying 'I'm proud of you.'

If I say 'you do me proud' I'm saying 'I take pride in your accomplisment.'

'do me proud' takes a certain amount of claim for the success.

Consider this: You can say "He did himself proud today" to mean 'he had every right to be proud of what he accomplished today.' You can't say "He made himself proud today." That doesn't make any sense.

 

To do someone proud is an informal idiom meaning, to give or show (someone) good hospitality, treatment or ententertainment. "We always do them proud when they visit us."
It can also be taken to mean, to make someone proud. It is often used as encouragement from a family member, friend, mentor, etc., "You get up on that stage and do us proud," - do your best (as we know you can) and make us proud.

 

Then why does Gen say it is not grammatically correct? I think an idiom/idiomatic usage should not be considered "incorrect" -- its being formal or informal is another thing.
Though I wonder what Gen means by "grammatically" here and whether she means semantically rather than grammatically.

 

I suspect this is a purely British idiom and AE speakers see it as a non-standard way of saying "make someone proud". I understand it as in post #5.

 

So do I.

 

Thank you, Veli and SS. Would some AE speaker please tell us what they think of it?
Thanks.

 

While we're waiting for the AE speakers, here's what our house dictionary says about it:

 

You got an American's opinion in post #4, which I totally agree with.