An old
saying, no doubt
heralding from the time of your
great-great-great grandfather, that means basically, "
Be nice, boah!"
Just as
flies are more likely to be attracted to spilled
honey than to spilled
vinegar, you're more likely to be able to
attract favorable attention (whether we're talking about
impressing
strangers, getting your
hunny-bunny to like you, persuading your
boss to give you a
raise, keeping the
cops from
busting yer ass, etc.) if you act like a
nice,
personable human being rather than a
mumbly old sourpuss.