# Does this statement about young girls strike you as odd? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053 "2010-01-15T07:18:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053/81 "2010-01-16T19:46:53Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Commas are your friend. So are semi-colons. Hell, so are periods. > > By contrast, sentences like the one I quoted are _nobody’s_ friend. I think some people need better reading skills. The quoted sentence is long, but perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053/82 "2010-01-16T19:54:08Z")
> [@astro](#): > > That you feel this this common as dirt expression which is was often expressed by older men of a certain era as a compliment to female children needs to be deconstructed and teased into something inappropriate or an illumination of your father’s sexual inclinations is bizarre. > > I’m 51 and I made a similar compliment to a 9 year old girl last night to some friends of mine. They were in the same restaurant and as I passed we struck up a conversation. She introduced her sister and her sister’s 9 year old daughter who were visting. She was a pretty little girl in an all American wholesome way, but what struck me in this little girl’s conversation was her usually mature poise. She was just a kid, but (at least in public) but when she spoke it was like talking with a 30 year old. I complimented her mother and aunt telling her she reminded me of a young Elizabeth Taylor in the poised way she spoke and carried herself. We chatted some more about current events and I left. > > Now maybe I was mis-reading my friend and the kid’s mom, but they were literally beaming with pleasure when I told them this. To think that someone would be trying to disassemble my compliment for hidden psycho-sexual pedophilic urges says more about the person rooting for dirt in this situation than it does the compliment giver. I got the message after the first fifty or so replies, of which about twenty percent actually implied that I have some problem of my own merely because I asked the question. I didn’t know that it was normal to think about how physically attractive children will be when they’re older. I guess I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053/83 "2010-01-16T20:20:23Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I think some people need better reading skills. The quoted sentence is long, but perfectly fine. I disagree, but I don’t want to hijack this thread with an argument over writing style. Being an obsessive nincompoop, I opened [this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12002221#post12002221) instead. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053/84 "2010-01-17T03:48:15Z")
Not really odd at all. There are young folks who seem to be headed for great facial beauty - of both sexes. Now, if the girl was 16 and I (an older man) said “Wow, what a hottie!” there might be some reason for questioning my statement. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053/85 "2010-01-17T03:53:23Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > My father said something like “they have the most beautiful daughters. You can just tell that they’re going to grow up to be knockouts.” > But I just have to ask, does this statement strike any of you as being indicative of some sort of sexually twisted or immature mindset? Nope. It’s something I would think myself, and I am about as straight a lady as you can get. And I am not going to hesitate to say it, either. ---
**Author:** ![Defero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@Defero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defero)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053/86 "2010-01-17T15:41:10Z")
Definitely not sufficient evidence to conclude a sexual interest. Especially in older generations this is a generic compliment. Very commonplace. But one of the two of you was indeed thinking about pedophilia, this we do have 100% evidence of, and that was you. The question you might want to ask then is “why am I thinking about pedophilia?”. (Suggestions: media manipulation, political correctness fascism, victim consciousness, etc). Now if there is more evidence than just this comment, your question would not be so suggestive of a personal problem. For instance if he ever tried anything on you or someone else. But obviously your question implies that this is not the case. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-statement-about-young-girls-strike-you-as-odd/525053.md?page=4)