Is this a Cutting Compliment?

If the compliment is coming from someone you see all the time but has never before mentioned your appearance... I could see myself getting a bit upset on a particularly sensitive day. In general, though, I would take it as a compliment and not think much of it.

14 years ago

Patty

Veteran

As opposed to every other day you mean. LOL
Consider-the source, the place, the situation, the tone---but for me because I'm pretty plain, this would average out to be a compliment.

14 years ago

Anonymous

Now that I'm firmly in my 40's, I'm much less likely to obsess over what anyone says. I figure it's not me, it's them. As the writer Meg Cabot says, you're not a $100 bill, not everybody's going to like you.

Radical self-acceptance: one of the best perks of getting older!

14 years ago

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

I would take it as a compliment. I wouldn't think of it as "compared to other days" but rather as "even nicer than other days".

14 years ago

MsMary

Veteran

Honestly, I thought I was the most thin-skinned person on the planet, but absent a snarky delivery it would never occur to me to add the "compared to other days" to this. It seems about as innocuous and pleasant as a compliment could possibly get.

14 years ago

Lisa

Veteran

I would just say thanks. I'm ok with this one.

14 years ago

Girl X

(website)

Veteran

'You look nice today.' - compliment.

'You look nice, today.' - not a compliment.

14 years ago

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

I would not consider it a cutting one - unless it is said with a smirk or something. I would get it as "You look ESPECIALLY nice today!", not like "You look nice today FOR A CHANGE".

14 years ago

Niki Lea

Veteran

Depends on the tone of voice. When said with sarcasm, that could be a cutting complement. But if said with sincerity, the person could also genuinely mean that you look nice today. Or it could also mean that every other day, compared to this one, is not so great.

But I think many people are so busy with with their lives they don't often observe how nice other people look. Sometimes people slow down enough to actually notice the people around them. So I think I would be flattered regardless.

14 years ago

Auburn

Veteran

I agree--this is nothing but positive in my book. The "today" part, to me, just means "I like what you're wearing right now...today." Reading more into it seems silly.

14 years ago

lynne

Veteran

Again, it depends on the tone of voice and who it is that's speaking. If it's said with surprise by someone you see frequently, not a compliment. Otherwise it probably is. Either way a smile and "Thank you" is enough.

14 years ago

Maya

Veteran

Ha, I have a friend who used to say that to me regularly, and I always spin it by saying "oh, so I don't look nice/pretty/cute/etc every other day?" Drove him bananas, but he knew I was just teasing. Yes, of course it's a compliment.

FWIW, he now says "you look EVEN MORE NICE/PRETTY/CUTE/ETC today than every other day." I have trained him well.

14 years ago

Lynne

Veteran

compliment from where i sit, unless you can add some more detail about the context, Angie?

14 years ago

LoP

Veteran

I don't know what is a compliment if this isn't. Plain and simple.

14 years ago

Aida

Veteran

Nothing to consider here, I would grin and say thanks
(Maya your story is great ^^)

14 years ago

Scarlet

Veteran

I think taking this as a cutting compliment would be way over-thinking things.

14 years ago

RandomThoughts (Andrea)

Veteran

100% compliment. I would do as others, and say thank you with a smile. Like MaryK, I think you would have to be incredibly thin skinned to take it any other way.

14 years ago

Anonymous

Honestly, running through my mind would be "Don't I look nice every day?" Hmmmm.......it's so hard to know what other people are thinking, often what is NOT said is more telling than what IS said.

Angie- Are people actually saying these things to you? How many rude people live in your city anyway?????

14 years ago

san

Veteran

I would take it as a compliment. I would feel that the sayer was just a little more in tune with what I had going that day, as if she would have chosen the outift or hairstyle for herself.

14 years ago

Polly (thunalata)

Veteran

What San said.

14 years ago

Kappy

Veteran

I would call it just a plain old compliment. But, yes, probably the better thing to say would be "You look nice" instead.

14 years ago

Beth

Veteran

I'm going with 100% compliment unless the tone said otherwise. I usually just assume that a particular look really caught someone's attention.

14 years ago

Steph

Veteran

I would definitely take it as a compliment--not rude in the least. Now, if they said "you look nice...TODAY," that would be a different story.

14 years ago

Kari

Veteran

No, I'd say it's a genuine compliment. Though when I say something like that, I often catch myself and say something like "Not that I don't think you look nice *normally* - I'm just especially loving what you're wearing right now!"

14 years ago

MsMary

Veteran

*sigh*

This is totally something I would say, and now I'm gonna be scarred for life...

14 years ago

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

Nope, in my book this is a straight, unalloyed complement. I interpret this to mean that your outfit is particularly striking on a given day, not that you look dreadful the rest of the time.
Interesting point, though.

14 years ago

Anonymous

Oh dear. I say this to people all the time. I had no idea it could be taken in any other way than how I mean it...as a complement.

14 years ago

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