What in interesting use of free will
Among everybody here, you have the most potential to learn something.
I’ve been told that a few times…
You can’t be underestimated
Every moment I spend with you is better than the next.
Bravo, that one took the most thought to figure out it was backhanded.
Really got me till the third thought xd
You cured my impostor syndrome, thank you.
Colbert at Bush’s correspondence dinner:
The greatest thing about about this man is that he’s steady, you know where he stands. He believes the same thing on Wednesday that he did on Monday… no matter what happened on Tuesday.
A burn so severe, so long-lasting, that he no longer has to pay to heat his home.
Many of these rely on big words, or are actually pretty obviously insults even if you don’t understand.
The real gems are the ones that read like simple english compliments, unless you spend actual effort looking for the insult.
Bless your heart
During my short tenure in the American South I thought women of all ages were in to me because they’d often say, ‘Bless your heart!’ and call me ‘Honey’.
Turns out I should have kept my head down. Don’t be fooled by Southern Hospitality.
Honestly, if someone hadn’t let me in on the secret, I probably still wouldn’t have figured it out. Three thoughts later? This one could take you anywhere from three days to three years to figure out.
Hey!
That one’s about me!
;D
(took a thought an a half.)
I don’t get it…
big words
or are actually pretty obviously insults even if you don’t understand.
Meaning you don’t understand the obvious insults.
Well aren’t you a smart cookie!
Both answers to @PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca seem to imply there’s a hidden insult in their comment, but I can’t find it. I’m the dumb cookie and I don’t like that
I don’t have one in English, but I have some in German for those who understand.
My Granddad had a female coworker that was higher in rank than him. He would always greet her with “Meine Allerwerteste”. It’s a word play because “Meine Werteste” is equivalent to a very formal version of “my dear”. “Aller” is a superlative form, so basically “My very dearest”. But “Mein Allerwertester” (so the male form of what he used) means “my ass”.
The other one is to use terminology like “Er versucht immer sein Bestes zu geben” (“He always tries to give his best”). In Austria, you are legally allowed to ask for a work testimony from your employer when you are looking for a new job. There is some legislation that prohibits negative speech in these work testimonies so that your employer cannot make you look bad in front of your potential new employer (which makes the whole concept pretty useless, but it is what it is). So to get around that, employers adopted a kind of “secret” code where e.g. “tries to” means “fails to”. So you can use the same kind of terminology to deliver something that sounds like a compliment, but for everyone in the know (which is most people by now) it’s clear that you deeply offended the person you are talking about.
Was that actually in the show? I don’t remember that one.
Don’t think so. It’s a Nigerian expression.
There are some good ones:
Unlike the stomach, the brain does not tell when it’s empty
When someone finds a problem to every solution: They are the enemy of progress
So many good ones in there thank you for sharing!
Leftist infighting in a nutshell
I swear I remember pausing it to go “did he really just say that?!” But rewatching the pictured scene in S2E19 he’s speaking with Aang who would not be a worthy recipient of such a burn, and he doesn’t say such a thing to Zuko in that episode
Faster than wisdom. Ha! Gotta remember that.
Shakespeare had a banger.
“I was going to challenge you to a battle of wits but I see you are unarmed.”
I also like.
“I could agree with you but then we’d both be wrong.”
“I could agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.”
A former co-worker got me with this one many years ago. I laughed out loud. I’ve never forgotten it.
Got in a literal fistfight in middle school using that first one. Pretty sure they didn’t understand it, and lashed out from ignorance.
A duel with fists is still a duel
Did you win?
Not technically, but they got expelled for it, so yes.
I have a cup with the last line on it
You’re really at the top of the bell curve!
Your intelligence is at least on the top 95% of people.
This took actually long to kick LMAO
me too, but mainly due to “on” rather than “in”.
…I’d also replace “at least” with “possibly”.
probably
so average? is that an insult
It sounds like you’re calling them intelligent when you’re really saying they’re nothing special.
For about half the people, yea.
more than a half, becasue those not in the half like to think that they are in the half
Good point, but now I’m confused about were I am on the curve.
Most people like to feel like they’re better than most. Mediocrity is an insult to them.
Blessed are the simpletons that never realise or just don’t give a fuck.
Yes
You represent the 5th percentile really well!
Wisdom has been chasing you, but you are faster!!
What you lack in evidence or convincing argument, you make up with conviction.
That’s the trick. End with the part that sounds nice
You are a testament to the quality of the educational system.
