brickbat vs flattery

brickbat

noun
  • A piece of brick used as a weapon, especially if thrown, or placed in something like a sock and used as a club. 

  • A criticism or uncomplimentary remark. 

verb
  • To assail with criticism. 

  • To attack by throwing brickbats. 

flattery

noun
  • An instance of excessive praise. 

  • Excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour. 

How often have the words brickbat and flattery occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )