# Did'ja ever get one of those "compliments?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907 "2001-01-26T19:56:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![racerx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5e9695/32.png) [@racerx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racerx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/1 "2001-01-26T19:56:27Z")
You know. Those compliments that are really papercuts garnished with lemon juice? The favorite one I’ve heard is: “Wow, racerx! You look great! I barely recognized you!” But a close runner up is: “That’s a great dress! Whose is it?” I also get alot of comments using “interesting” and “unique” to describe my appearance." These usually come from uncomfortablely polite Midwesterners. Anyone else get these “compliments?” ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/2 "2001-01-26T21:06:11Z")
Does this count? “You know I hated you when I first met you, but I like you now!” Ummm. Thanks? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![sam0156](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@sam0156](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sam0156)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/3 "2001-01-26T21:06:13Z")
You look just like my neighbor - she’d be really pretty if she weren’t such a hillbilly. Uh, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/4 "2001-01-26T21:07:33Z")
What an interesting and unique thread topic **racerx**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/5 "2001-01-26T21:20:47Z")
“oh wow, I like your blouse. It’s so different from what you usually wear…” Ummm, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/6 "2001-01-26T21:21:26Z")
Hey, **racerx**! Nice boobs, I barely recognized them! Whose are they? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/7 "2001-01-26T21:22:40Z")
The two biggies are responses to a new beard… 1. People think my growing a beard gives them carte blanche to insult my looks–“Hey, you’re looking really scruffy today.” 2. They think I’m growing it as some sort of atavistic caveman reflex–“Growing a beard for winter?” I once had a dream that I was a woman, and when I told my girlfriend about it, she assured me that I’d make an ugly woman. Gee, thanks, I think… ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/8 "2001-01-26T21:28:59Z")
Last year while purchasing beer I receive such a “compliment”. I was carded and when I presented my ID the kid behind the counter said “You are getting to the age where this is a compliment huh?” I was only 24! It certainly wasn’t a compliment that he thought I looked under 30. (In NC they are suppose to card anyone who “looks” under 30.) In my family we call ugly babies “A Lert” As in “My, he is certainly A Lert for such a young baby”. This is said in place of cute or pretty or all the other things you are suppose to say about babies. ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/9 "2001-01-26T21:36:41Z")
Wow! You look good **today**! ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/10 "2001-01-26T21:38:04Z")
**Zumba, the cat** , The wonderful, wonderful cat! You’ll laugh so hard, your sides will ache, Watching Zumba, the wonderful cat! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/11 "2001-01-26T21:39:49Z")
You look great! You should wear makeup all the time! This potato salad is almost as good as mine! I dread parties. ---
**Author:** ![racerx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5e9695/32.png) [@racerx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racerx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/12 "2001-01-26T21:40:35Z")
**Gazoo** Yeah, _half smiles and nods_ thanks. **ChiefScott** Yeah. _winks_ They’re mine. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/13 "2001-01-26T21:49:02Z")
One year I got the “Most Improved Dancer” award. Does this mean I’ve gotten really, really good, or just that I don’t suck quite as bad as I used to. However, when I saw who got the award the next year, I felt a lot better. (Some of the best dancers in the class) ---
**Author:** ![struuter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@struuter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struuter)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/14 "2001-01-26T22:01:27Z")
Self-esteem? Who needs self-esteem? “I had no idea you could sing. Wow, I can hardly believe that you can actually sing. Man, I just can’t get over it…” (at which point I interrupted and changed the subject.) “Well, your father always said he thought you were smart. I guess I have to agree with him.” (Gosh Mom, stop already. I’m getting all teary-eyed.) “That’s why I love being around you, b. It’s not all about being beautiful. You’ve got that great sense of humor.” (Ah-yeah.) And the best is… “You’re just fine. You’re beautiful…but not in the classic sense. You’re exotic…no,no,no…unique.” ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/15 "2001-01-26T22:23:13Z")
Zumba- as promised. How yew doin? 😉 Wanna come over some time & discuss “capital”? We can confirm your great ‘assets’- I promise I can 'withhold" until full “amortization” sets in. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/16 "2001-01-26T22:45:43Z")
I’ve got another ID one. “Can I see some ID please?” “Omigod! I am SO sorry! I didn’t realize…” Didn’t realize what? How ancient I am??? I’ve had quite a few left handed compliments. I’ll have to try to remember some more of them. I usually erase them from my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/17 "2001-01-26T23:07:50Z")
As a long-ago ex-boyfriend used to say, “Thanks or f\*\*k you, whichever applies.” I wanted to respond that way when his mother said I was a hot item. I mean 😕 ? One time, shortly after I turned 21, a friend (who was 25 at the time) went into a convenience store to buy beer. She was carded and couldn’t find her ID. Half an hour later, I went back to the store with her (I knew where my ID was!) Same clerk. Keep in mind, I’m newly 21, and four years younger than my friend. I DIDN’T GET CARDED! Geez. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/18 "2001-01-26T23:17:49Z")
I once had a Boston woman tell me that she knew I wasn’t from there because I looked like one of those, “Corn-fed Midwestern girls.” I asked her if that was supposed to be a compliment and she swore it was. What-f-ing-ever. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/19 "2001-01-26T23:21:28Z")
From one of my co-workers back when I worked in retail: “I wish I could have worn something like that to work. But of course I had to look nice today.” ---
**Author:** ![DeskMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DeskMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeskMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907/20 "2001-01-26T23:22:27Z")
A male friend of mine and I both showed up wearing our new favorite thermal shirts and he said he’d worn his pretty much every day that week and I said that so had I. Then he noticed that I had sauce on the sleeve or something and he said: “You’re not into all that gilrie stuff like pretty clothes. It’s cool, you’re such a boy!” Watch it buddy, I’m a boy with PMS!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didja-ever-get-one-of-those-compliments/51907.md?page=2)