…ideally one that was both genuine and that you had the confidence and self awareness to interpret as kind. And for bonus points, what’s one you’ve given?
I’m thinking back to the guy in group therapy years ago who told me he always thought of people who swore as not knowing any better words, but that I obviously knew better words and just also swore and even used them artistically and that’s just really stuck with me. Sometimes I wonder how much of my self esteem has suffered not just because I’ve been told not to brag, but also because I’m extremely weird so the compliments I do receive often reflect that.
My bonus one (and I’m not sure how well he was able to take it) was that one of my fellow psych nurses was frequently and obviously terrified any time shit hit the fan, but that somehow still he’d never once failed to have my back. He’d be stuttering the whole way through an incident but I’d walk out of the med room with both halves of a B52 and he’d take one of the syringes without a second thought. He was literally the epitome of “courage isn’t not being scared, it’s being willing to face it.” I should find a nice presentation of that quote somewhere to send him because I’m not sure I phrased it well at the time.
Someone told me that I talk like Christian Slater. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, but Slater is pretty cool, so I said thank you.
I’ve only ever experienced Slater in Broken Arrow and Archer. Both were good fun. One was decidedly better than the other.
I don’t know enough about the man to offer any in depth analysis, but he seems like a very confident person and apparently that’s attractive. Sounds like a good compliment to me!
I had to have an abdominal ultrasound done once and the tech told me I have a great pancreas, “the most beautiful she’s ever seen”. I didn’t know what to say but it made me happy.
Hide Your pancreas
I’ve been complimented on my voice before, and those aren’t weird compliments. But delivery is important. I had a coworker tell me, “Your voice is great!” And of course I’m thankful. But then deadpan, she goes, “You should do ASMR so I can listen to it.”
Now that was a weird compliment.
ASMR people are a different breed. I’m married to one. The videos feel intensely intimate, but she’ll just listen to them on the couch like it’s the radio.
Meanwhile I get self conscious if someone walks by while I’m watching a video game cutscene lol
If you’re male you could actually probably make a looot of money doing bdsm asmr audio porn. Get an OF and just do a few themed ones as samples / grab-n-go purchases, then offer custom scripts; I bet you’d make bank. Maybe spend about $20 for a couple different women with OF to tell you how they actually masturbate (would help to tell them your use-case so they know you actually want the actual dirty deets) then record yourself ASMR style instructing a woman to do those things. Offer to replace “babygirl” or whatever pet name you decide on with women’s names for $20-50. Easy $$$.
From a French colleague:
“You are the kind of Italian we like in France.”
“Wonderful, but I’m American.”
“I doubt that”
I’ve had something similar quite a few times.
Meet someone, talk for a bit, “where are you from?” u.s. “really? You don’t seem American”
They meant it as a compliment
Is there anywhere in the world where this isn’t a compliment?
“You’re very handsome for an Asian man.” - My girlfriend’s mom
Just one of those that confirms someone’s biases.
Gotta love those microaggressions
I mean I was hoping for more positive ones but I’m glad I gave you somewhere to do that and I hope doing so has brought you some peace.
“Courage means being scared but doing it anyway” seems like a pretty succinct way of putting it I think.
My wierd compliment (if it can be called that) was when I was in high school English class. My teacher noticed how competent I was and how I was the only one to consistently raise my hand when he asked a question. He gave us a research paper to do and I got an F on it, exclusively because I fucked up the citations. He said the content was good, but he had to mark me way down due to improper citing. He said “I know you can do better than this.”
Is that a complement? Either way, I think about that interaction and scenario a lot even though I haven’t been in high school for well over a decade.
I feel like people mostly told me I could do better when I was begging for help, so I don’t know that I’m the right person to ask.
And idk I was thinking more like a cool movie scene or something to really pack in the “oomph,” but maybe. I definitely want to put a little more thought into it, the lack of thought being how I fucked it up last time.
This guy once told me “Your hair looks small” as a compliment… I still dont’t know what to make of it.
I feel like I would have to see your hair at the time if you happen to be able to find a picture (or a similar one).
It’s an It’s Always Sunny reference!
After some research, this redditor sums the moment up thus: “Dennis is incapable of complimenting him he doesnt have anything nice to say he doesnt respect Mac he doesnt even like Mac Mac just likes him and this is the foundation of their friendship no one likes Dennis everyone knows hes a scumbag psychopath but Mac admires and worships Dennis and values his opinions over anyone else which is how Dennis thinks everyone should see him he tolerates Mac because he keeps him anchored and from going to far or drowning while still validating Dennis’s chaos and faults so he simply states the first thing he notices about Mac in the moment which is that his hair looks small which it does because he greased it different (obviously making an effort to be noticed by Dennis) When Mac realizes hes just saying what he wants to hear and not being genuine he goes to walk away which is why Dennis does the speach to let him know that he is important not because hes badass or how he looks but because hes always has Dennis’s back”
I still don’t understand how this could apply to this person’s situation.
A girl sidled up to me at college when I was About 18 and just said “you have beautiful veins”
I’ve heard from several women that veiny forearms are sexy, and I am inclined to agree despite being a hetero male lol
Do/did you do a lot of cardio? Runners, bikers, swimmers, etc have the BEST veins (you need em)! - was phlebotomist, now am nurse.
“Wanna see them engorged?”
My college had a very strong nursing program, and that was a surprisingly common compliment.
Oh my god I have had this exact same compliment.
Actually I still get this one infrequently at the gym, but they say “nice vascularity” so it’s not weird at all when you put it like that
“You look like a movie star”.
I was standing in a parking lot of a grocery store, and it seems this was because I had a hat and sunglasses on as far as I can tell.
An ex from a meaningful, but fraught relationship tried to seduce me a few months after we had broken up. In the interim, I had started dating someone new, and I rejected the advances.
My ex was angry and lashing out. She said a few random insults about my new partner (implying she had manipulated me with sex), before finally saying “well, I hope she enjoys your magical penis!” (It’s not magical. The tiny wizard hat is purely for decoration.)
Would you say it’s a monument?
The Miss “my state” came to sing the national anthem for a big sports event at my job. I took care of the sound for her and we chatted a little bit. She was constantly barraged by guys coming up and wanting a picture with her, so we didn’t get to have too much of a conversation. She sang the anthem, and was moving on to her next engagement and I said glad to meet you and was about to go back to the rest of my job. She stopped me and said " but we didn’t get a picture together!" I told her it was ok, I understand that it’s part of her job. She insisted and handed HER phone to someone walking by and insisted they take a picture of us. After they returned her phone she looked me in the eye and asked for my phone number so she could send it to me. I have a wonderful girlfriend and I would never cheat on her, but miss “my state” asked ME for my number, and I have been walking on air ever since.
Not weird, absolutely awesome. Still upvoted because that’s absolutely awesome.
It is pretty weird to assume that everyone needs a picture of her. I look fuckable, take my picture, NOW.
She didn’t think he wanted a picture with her. She wanted a picture to remember him. And possibly as a way to get his phone number. She was crushing a little bit on the cool sound guy.
Sounds to me like she wanted a picture with him. But even if it was that way, the compliment isn’t weird, she’s just weird.
Super weird! I am NOT the kind of person to get hit on, average on a good day. But thank you!
I’m pretty sure it was intended as a compliment, but a little after I came out as trans I had a coworker tell me about a conversation she had with another coworker where she said about me, “They always dress better than us.”
That’s just the fear of not passing, lol. …or the contrast between that and the weird greasy egg look people get if the dysphoria impairs their self care. It was a really bizarre realization for me that the reason I liked dressing hyperfeminine on rare occasions was essentially the same as men who do drag as a costume. I got my tits chopped off and have no regrets but I am considering getting a pair just to wear on special occasions.
“You look like a spy” Which is sadly why my career as a spy never got off the ground.
I was told I looked like a cop several times back when I associated with less desirable parts of society. I think the reason they felt that way is because I showered daily, combed my hair, and had an acceptable level of personal hygiene.
A girl in college once told me I have “beautiful, horse-like legs”. I did martial arts at the time and my calves and thighs were very well toned, but I was actually a little self-conscious about them, and I had never considered horses to be particularly beautiful so I kind of took it as an insult after walking away from the conversation. It wasn’t until I relayed the story to a colleague a few months later that they told me it was probably a genuine compliment.
When I perform, the best compliments are the people who have to look away. I think that qualifies as weird. Not JD Vance weird though.
