Previously: How to handle criticism.
1. Writhe. If you writhe hard enough, and sinuously enough, the compliments will fall off of your body like water from a duck’s back, and you won’t have to deal with the strange, clinging feeling of them on your shoulders.
2. Carefully take off your skin and hand it to the compliment-giver. It’s their problem now.
3. Hiss softly until you have equalized your internal pressure.
4. If you know how to do backflips, do so many of them that whoever is trying to compliment you can no longer see you against the horizon.
5. Take the compliment to your Alchemy Dungeon and transmute it into something negative about yourself.
6. YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG, YOU DON’T KNOW ME AT ALL AND YOU’RE WRONG
7. Pull out your fingernails and hurl them at the complimenter, screaming “IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? IS THIS A FAIR EXCHANGE?”
8. Carefully wrap yourself around the leg of whoever praised you like a frightened cat, and force them to drag you around with them wherever they go for the rest of their natural life.
9. Find out what they’re trying to hide by saying nice things at you. Expose them.
10. Throw your entire throat into a river so that no one can ever talk to you again.
11. Downplay the compliment. Play it so far down you can pick it wriggling in your fingers and crush it under your thumb. Grind your knuckles into it, then blow the dust in your would-be admirer’s face.
12. Take to the sea.
13. CHOKE on the words “THANK YOU” so that you DIE and it’s ALL THEIR FAULT and if ONLY THEY HAD HONORED THE SOCIAL COMPACT by NEVER MENTIONING ANYTHING YOU DID WELL EVER, you would be alive today, and now you’re not, and they’ll never do it again.
Tags: advice, how to take a compliment
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While it seems like a natural choice, breaking down into baffled tears and using the hem of your admirer’s shirt to wipe your nose just doesn’t work well.
Short-hand for steps 1 – 3: “Be a snake.” And it works! People rarely compliment snakes.
Now I feel crap about all the times I’ve complimented snakes. What an aggressive buttinski I am!
Secondary option: Want to be a snake.
Compliments mean nothing to you, they cannot penetrate your disappointment in all those extra limbs.
YOU ARE A BLOODY GENIUS.
OH SHIT, A COMPLIMENT
*slithers under the cover of nearby foliage*
“That’s a nice shirt.”
THANK YOU I WILL SEND A LETTER TO THE DESIGNER ON YOUR BEHALF
If someone compliments any of my items i usually go into great detail about where and when i bought it and how cheap it was in clearance.
I’m fashionable AND clever. What’s you gonna do now HUH???
Some combination of weeping and laughing maniacally has always worked well for me when it comes to baffling and deeply alienating those around me.
One of the kindest things my father ever taught me by example: The proper response to any compliment is “I try.” Often in a larger construction: “Oh, thanks! I do try,” but even just the two-word version conveys “I am surprised and pleased that you noticed! That is something I make an effort at, rather than something that comes naturally to me; how kind of you to comment.”
I am much less socially awkward today because of this, and in addition, since I live far away from my father, it’s now become a personal verbal trademark.
/awkwardlyseriousresponsetojokeypost
yessssssssss this is my go-to response. “Thank you, I try.” It makes it less painful to have to deal with people noticing you.
Plus it’s fun to use sarcastically against people who aren’t actually complimenting you, or people who are complimenting you but think they aren’t: “you just come off really feminist sometimes, you know?” “Thanks, I try!”
That’s it, I’m adding this to my conversational arsenal immediately.
I like “that’s so nice of you to say!”
Haha take THAT complimenter now what you gonna do?
That’s awesome! I’m definitely going to say that next time.
signed,
another one of the many quiet introvert gals here at the toast
PERFECT, thank you, will start using this immediately!
I did this until I got yelled at by a close friend (the kind that can yell at you for these things). Now I just say, “Thank you,” and pray for the ground to swallow me up so I can die.
I am that friend.
Me: Oooh, your hair looks really pretty today.
Friend: Oh yeah? I need a haircut and I haven’t washed it and…
Me: [grabs friend by arms, yells] JUST SAY THANK YOU!
Friend [meekly]: thank you [cries, runs away, another friend gone]
I say “got yelled at” but actually what I got was an arched eyebrow and a very pointed look.
Me: *says something funny*
Him: You’re hilarious
Me: I try!
Him: *The Look*
Me:…thank you. *hangs head in shame*
I am also that friend. My bestie argued with me so many times when I complimented her outfit that now I greet her with, “You look like an old hag” or “that dress is fuckin’ ugly.” Then we stare at each other in horror for a split second (she: convinced I mean it; me: convinced she thinks I mean it) and burst out laughing like hyenas.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it” is also a way of wriggling out of it without actually disagreeing with the complimenter.
This is also my favorite response when people awkwardly comment on my height and I have no idea what to say in response.
“You’re so tall!”
“Thanks, I try.”
I’ve found that “Thanks, I grew it myself!” is an excellent response to body part/shape/size compliments (or criticisms).
Assume the compliment is just because they are your friend and would NEVER tell you the real truth about how mediocre you are. Then, assume there’s underlying criticism. See list on how to handle.
HEY INNER VOICE / MIND– did you create a Toast account and post before I even had the opportunity to read this???
Yes. Also, remember to pick up toilet paper, you’re almost out at home.
Stare off into space and say, “I’m not always comfortable with praise” in your best Hannibal Lecter voice. Allow the conversation to lapse into painfully uncomfortable silence.
I’m just going to assume this is Mikkelsen!Hannibal.
I prefer to stroke their hair repeatedly and say, “Now you are my friend. My only true friend. If you leave me, I will die. I will.”
This was very good! Well done!
lololol
See, this is a USEFUL article. I can’t count the number of times I’ve sought help on this issue and all three pages of self help amounted to “Well…a socially adjusted woman would really, you know, just say thank you”–
I’ve been literally laughing out loud at your perfect Westley deployment for like a full minute.
Really? Awe, thank– *combusts into ash*
I’m totally not embarrassed that my first thought on seeing this gif was: “do you promise not to hurt him?”
What was that?
I cannot stop watching this. This gif is everything.
When someone compliments you, just agree with them. If you answer compliments with a very solemn “yes.” people will be so uncomfortable that they’ll never say anything nice to you ever again! See also: wordless nodding
I have learned the effectiveness of wordless nodding as well, as a reaction to many things people say. It is like a tool in my arsenal, a harsh verbal mirror.
Because I am insufferable, I CHEERFULLY agree with the complimenter. This IS delicious! I too think my hair looks good today! And then people* say things like, “Well, isn’t it great that you have such high self esteem!” THEN AGREE WITH THAT AND YOU ARE INVULNERABLE FOREVER.
*Relatives mostly.
“Thank you, and what else do you notice about me?” is another favourite. I have also been known to preemptively tell everyone how great my cooking/hair/whatever is, because I am a horrible person with no social skills.
I compliment myself all the time! Is it more or less narcissistic if I think of it as being realistic? Don’t need to be good at everything but I sure can appreciate what I AM good at. Is it still a horrible person without social skills trait if I realistically praise other people too? Is this why I only have 5 friends?
Ooh, this is my tactic too! ‘Thanks, I know! :D’ is probably my most frequent response to compliments. If it’s a compliment on something I’m wearing/using ‘Thanks, isn’t it great??? I love it’ is also frequent.
I once got yelled at by an aunt who missed my ‘thank you’ after someone (else) told me I look nice and just heard me going ‘I know :D’ for being vain. Hmph.
My tactic, when someone compliments me on a *thing* like, “I like your shirt”, is to say “I like it too!” cheerfully. Or if it’s on my work, something like, “I’m happy with how it turned out” or “It’s not the worst I’ve ever done” until they go away.
Off topic: I love your username. Obviously.
Yours too 🙂
Psychedelic mushroom party!
This is my exact tactic, specifically with the comments on my blue and purple hair. “Thanks, I like it too!”
pretty sure my “alchemy dungeon” is just my brain, HOW DISAPPOINTING
Aww man, I read “alchemy dungeon” as “alchemy dragon” at first, now I’m disappointed too.
now is this a dragon that mixes up your alchemys for you, or a dragon you made with the alchemys?
I like the way you think. It tells me I’m not alone.
I honestly envisioned a dragon who breathed fire on an object and it transformed into something else due to the flames. Something other than ash.
I’m already an expert at 5 and 6. Now for the rest…
#10 What if they keep talking to me once I’ve lost my entire throat and then I won’t be able to curse them in return?
Handwritten cards which you keep in your pockets for just such occasions.
Carefully relive all of the other things you did/said/wore immediately before and after the thing complimented to discern which of those things is actually being criticized by distinction (knowable because it is – in fact – everything that was not complimented).
OH GOD when they keep insisting upon going on about that thing you did so well and they don’t pick up on the obviously uncomfortable toad-faced-of-a-closed-mouth-smile that your face is making.
Sorry this is hitting close to home. I just sang at a concert, like, two weeks ago, and my stomach is still doing weird flips because of compliments from strangers.
Well I think it was perfectly audacious of you to inflict your presence on those before the stage. Who do you think you are? What makes your voice so true and raw and ethereal that any of us would ever want you to sing again in the course of your natural life? (Do NOT get me started on your unnatural life. I know you’re deliberately entrapping demons with that voice of yours!)
I’m realizing now how humble-braggish I sound. But all of the complimenters were centered, respectable middle-aged-to-older women (whom I aspire to be like). And all I could think was COMPLIMENT ME NOT. I am not worthy.
No! You didn’t sound humble-braggish. You sounded (as is only proper) uncomfortable and annoyed by the praise. (And while I’m sure you deserved it, I understand completely.) (I may or may not – okay, let’s not lie, I totally may – spend too much time scrolling through the reviews of my books looking for all the hidden criticism so I can self-flagellate away any comfort the world tries to offer about my supposed talent.)
(My latest book has not one review on Amazon, not even from my mom. THIS IS AS IT SHOULD BE. I have been set firmly in my place.)
Your post crystallized something for me: I really dislike the word humblebrag. It makes it sound like this sort of thing is always a pose, when a lot of times it is genuine discomfort and perplexity. I mean, if stuff like “you don’t know you’re beautiful, that’s what makes you beautiful” is high praise, and women are derided for humblebragging when they enact the I’m-surprised-you-think-I’m-awesome thing, WE CAN’T WIN.
I always choose an overly eloquent phrase of thanks, but deliver it in a very stiff manner, so that the two cancel out and I look neither glib nor grovelly. I do not recommend this method.
Ohh, number 2. NUMBER 2. If only it were possible; it’s exactly how I feel. I’ve trained myself to respond with a polite “thank you!”… but do you think people expect a return compliment? If I don’t say anything else am I being rude? Compliments are nightmare fuel for spiralling social anxieties!
I keep thinking I should be a person who compliments other people, unbidden, but I always think it sounds horribly awkward coming out of my mouth. Or worse, that I’m fishing. So my friends will never know how much I value their hilariousness and intelligence. And that woman on the streetcar will NEVER KNOW that I think her outfit is totally killer, even though she might be a person who can handle or would like that sort of comment.
I think the only times where I feel really comfortable giving/taking compliments on my clothing or accessories is when the item is question is nerdy or cat-related, because then it becomes “hey, person, we like the same thing(s), let us talk about how great they are!”
There’s this great moment in the otherwise rather forgettableBig ripoff 13 Going On 30 where the aged-up protagonist gets into an elevator with a girl of her own (mental) age, around middle school. There’s this “I like your dress! I like your shoes!” exchange where they know each other as Fellow Non-Grown Ups because they exchange the compliments so tit-for-tat ritualistically. I recognized myself in it.
I still do that, and I am 25. Or possibly 25 going on 13.
I have also trained myself to respond with a polite “thank you” and I have further trained myself NOT to respond with a compliment unless of course I have a genuine compliment to make. Otherwise 1) it’s obvious that you’re just trying to reciprocate awkwardly and 2) as you say, just leads to spiraling social anxiety.
It has taken me years to get to this point.
one of the more obvious awkward reciprocations:
me: I like your shirt
guy: I like your… well, bye.
I mean, at least he started to make the effort.
I like the drive-by compliment. The woman exiting the train, telling me she likes my shoes, not breaking stride, gone before I can respond. I once told a complete stranger her hair was glorious. She was sitting on a bench and I was walking past. Never broke stride, made sure she did not have to respond. I did see a big grin.
Yes. This is almost the only way I give compliments and it always startles my companions. “Did you just say something nice to a stranger?” “Yeeeessss?” “No, I mean — did YOU just SAY something NICE to a STRANGER?” Of course I did, foolio, I was gone before they noticed.
6, 9, 10, 13: thank you for summarizing my life so succinctly.
Fiancé: You’re pretty.
Me: *farts*
My variation when my husband tells me I’m pretty is to say “I know! Isn’t it great?”
my husband: You’re beautiful.
me: YUP, THAT’S ME!
I usually respond by belching, but maybe I need to learn to fart on command.
#1 is seriously my impulse. *holds shoulders very still*
11. Downplay the compliment. Play it so far down you can pick it wriggling in your fingers and crush it under your thumb. Grind your knuckles into it, then blow the dust in your would-be admirer’s face.
Interesting.
Normally I downplay it until it’s huddled within a tiny carapace, and then I snap it in half with my thumbnail like it’s a flea, and brush the remains into the neared bin or grassy verge. I’m going to have to try this dust thing instead – my way didn’t do a thing to deter future compliments from the would-be admirers.
14. Tell a totally irrelevant story about a time you did something really poorly or really bad, to balance out the positive attention. Repeat as necessary until the compliment-giver walks away.
My response is, “I like to think so!” or “Thanks. That’s exactly what I was shooting for.”
I have been criticised before for not accepting a compliment properly, and now, whenever receiving a compliment, hover between the terror of being complimented and the horror of being criticised for my poor resonse. Basically, DON’T NOTICE MEEEEE! (a career in the performing arts may have been a poor choice)
My automatic response for whenever anyone says something nice or interesting is “oh, cool”, which…. doesn’t usually work for compliments directed at me.
“hey thanks for doing a great job on this work project”
“oh, cool.” ???? “I mean, yeah. I mean, thanks? you’re welcome?”
I do get there eventually.
But actually #1 is my instinctual reaction every, every time.
When I’m blindsided by unexpected dialogue, I tend to select a response at random from “Oh, cool.”, “Sounds good!”, “No thanks.”, “Oh, sorry!”, “Uh-huh.”, “You’re welcome!”, “No problem.”, and “Thank you!” Sometimes it even works!
I was also that kid in elementary school who would accidentally sign off from conversations with other kids by saying “I love you.”
I literally did not remember this about my childhood until I read your post, but I hated phone conversations because I was terrified I would absentmindedly sign off “I love you.” I think I accidentally did it once, and then became convinced I was always going to do it. The other reason I was afraid of phone conversations was that I was convinced I would call and get a foreign nanny/au pair whose accent I couldn’t understand over the phone, and thus I would be rude without meaning to. Childhood is a weird time.
I did that accidentally with a friend one time, back when I was in high school, and was completely mortified. (In my case, it was getting out of a car, because I was used to saying it to relatives). But now we’re dating, so <3
Oh man I am SO BAD at, specifically, being thanked for doing a good job at work. “Thanks for dealing with that project, Elsajeni!” “*mild panic* It’s… what you… pay me for? *flee back to own office*”
Smile coldly and tell them it’s very kind of them to say so. Stare into their eyes and let them see that you know them for the lying, treacherous snake they are. Stare until they begin to quake with fear, then raise your hand to shake and watch them run away. Pretend confusion to onlookers.
#7 Really spoke to me, just the sheer desire to inflict my panic on the person causing it. “This is what it feels like NOW BE HAPPY AND SAY THANK YOU.”
I have my performance review at work coming up and I am dreading it not for any criticism, but for the praise I am likely to receive based on the intensely uncomfortable agony of being praised during the last year’s reviews. Helpppp.
Even admitting to you toasties I was praised last year has me hiding under my desk.
Oh man, I am in my 8th year at current job, and HATE annual reviews for just this reason! I feel like I’ve tricked my boss into thinking I do a good job or something, so when I get the praise I have to try not to blush uncontrollably and/or cry!
Performance reviews are the worrrrrst. Last year I went into mine fully expecting to get fired, disemboweled, publicly shamed, fired again just for good measure, and thrown into the winter weather. The evaluators spent forty minutes giving praise and I could not even respond to any of it due to be frozen in place, thinking that if I moved or showed any weakness that would probably spoil the joke for them just stay strong, keep eye contact. It was AWFUL.
14. Thank the complimenter in a pleasant, socially appropriate manner. Spend the following month questioning their motives for offering obviously unearned praise. You are enemies now.
I have definitely hissed at people for complimenting me.
More like a possum than a snake though.
Like this: http://shoatgeep.tumblr.com/post/92903169341/he-i…
Oh no his poor face
God help me but my first thought was “So, no Scorpios then.”
Me: “Yes, I am aware.” A generous mood: “Thank you.” Possible false flattery: “Sure.” And God help you if you tag on an “and modest, too!’
Them: I like your [thing]
Me: Yes, me too. That’s why I’m using it.
My husband replies to “And modest, too!” with “YES I am the MOST modest!” because at that point things are already absurd so why not?
I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction right now that involves powerful rulers being like, “YES I AM AWESOME AND YOU ARE LUCKY TO SAY THAT TO ME,” whenever someone compliments them. I think that’s obviously the best approach.
“Your hair looks nice today.”
“Yes, it does, and you are honored by my presence.”
(Oh, that was supposed to be in reply to Alice. Postfail.)
Ha, this is ace! Definitely something all poor compliment-takers should try
Can’t take compliments, can’t take criticism. I’m the complete package!
I am not alone!
I, personally, would prefer that no one say anything about me under any circumstances, thanks.
I get spooked when a casual acquaintance (or a customer, whichever) remembers and uses my name. NO, IT WASN’T ME, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, WHY DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM, YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM *SMOKEBOMB*
Say “Thank you” and then follow up with a detailed explanation of how the thing you’re good at is useless because it doesn’t combat oppression and make the world a better place nor is it an employable skill that makes you economically viable.
Except if the compliment is about work that you have done at your day job so the latter part of that sentence isn’t true, in which case just reply “it’s my job” because it is.
I’m often away from my alchemy dungeon, so I carry a mortar & pestle, retort, calcinator, and alembic with me at all times. Together they weigh 22 pounds, but the extra encumbrance is worth it.
…wait, is this a Morrowind joke? I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE.
– 1 on your Dex roll, though.
People REALLY like to compliment my unusual and naturally-occurring hair color. My stock response is typically “thanks! I had nothing to do with it.”
On a similar note, most of the compliments that I get are skin-related, so:
“2. Carefully take off your skin and hand it to the compliment-giver. It’s their problem now”
is basically the perfect response.
(Definitely better than my usual, “Thanks, it’s all due to a strange genetic condition and my fear of the outdoors”).
Yes, but how many other women are spending untold thousands/millions of dollars to try to get their hair to be that color? YOU ARE WINNING WITHOUT EVEN TRYING!
But how terrible, to do with no effort something that other people have failed at! It wasn’t on purpose, and I certainly didn’t do it to make anybody feel bad, please don’t envy me or hate me, I’m so sorry.
Seriously, all of elementary school just came rushing back.
auughhh my whole high school career:
SOME ASS: “what did everyone get on the test?”
SOME OTHER ASS: “don’t bother asking Leahrobinn, we all know she got the top mark.”
ME: *tiny, defeated voice* I didn’t even study…
ALL ASSES: *eyerolls, exaggerated sighs, snide jests*
School could have been pretty fun, if it weren’t for the other kids.
“Thanks! I grew it myself.” Bonus: this is also useful when my husband compliments my tits.
That’s what I always say about my butt! Body parts for the win 🙂
This is what I always say about my hair! Had somehow never thought of saying it for tits, but will begin promptly.
Uncontrollable mouth alert: A few weeks ago, a friend I hadn’t seen all winter admired my (newly long) hair, and I babbled “I know, it just keeps growing out of my head” because I am so very socially deft.
oh god I just spurted my tea.
Same, but with my name. I often respond with “I picked it out myself!” to compliments about it, which never fails to throw off the complimenter for at least fifteen seconds–just long enough to make an escape.
My name is somewhat unusual, so after someone has asked me to spell and/or pronounce it for them the feel the need to compliment it. I usually tell them I’ll pass the compliment along to my parents, but how are you supposed to take a compliment for something you had absolutely no hand in?
I go with “I blame my father” (My first and last names are rhyme-y, which some people find amusing- I don’t much mind either way, but I didn’t have much to do with it.)
Since I moved to Quebec, people have been commenting on my extremely ordinary first name as if it’s exotic. It’s very confusing! How does one respond!?
Yes! It is really kind of uncomfortable and weird because, like, it just happens? I didn’t do anything. I just mostly keep it clean and brushed?
I get a lot of compliments about my eye colour and my response is “Thanks, I got them for my birthday”
LOVE that
If someone compliments anything on my body i answer like maggie gyllenhaal in ‘Stranger than Fiction’:
-You have very nice teeth
-Thank you.They are real.
She sounded sassy while i sound arrogant
I just like to say “I know”. Example:
Drunk Guy: You’re hot
Me: I know *unmoving unsmiling gaze*
I enjoy responding to especially fulsome compliments with “Mmm, go on,” and an encouraging smile.
Oh! That is perfection itself!
Also see: “It’s mine.” followed by a smug smile (a la Stephen Fry in that one Bit-of-F&L with the dancersizing quantity surveyor).
#5 is my default.
“12. Take to the sea.”
This is always the answer.
pretending to have not heard them followed by some sort of a bodily gas release usually helps me
I like the stick with the old standby of blushing and smiling while also sweating profusely.
I generally assume all compliments I receive are genuine, even though I know that on occasion I’ll give compliments out of social politeness and therefore some of the compliments I receive are probably not quite from the heart.
My husband’s default response is “that’s nice of you to say,” which has the benefit of seeming polite while simultaneously implying that the person speaking is insincere and/or mistaken.
My bestie joked(?) that she likes to say “thank you that’s true about me” when faced with a compliment and now me and my betrothed say it all the time.
[me: changing the cat litter]
him: you’re a hero
me: thank you that’s true about me (*gag* how can our cats produce such toxic waste in such a short time)
I seriously love this so much I may adopt it and give it a forever home with me as well.
Please do “How to Apologize” Next?! Unless that’s already been done and I missed it? In which case I’m sorry?
14. Finally accept a compliment without fear or trepidation; then, get so high off of it that you begin accepting every compliment no matter how false and fish for them at every opportunity. Alienate everyone around you by growing your ego to an enormous size, then, alone on your death bed, realize the foolishness of your ways, and shrink back to an even lower level of self-esteem than you started with. A nurse enters, says you’re looking good today. You think, “Well what did I look like yesterday, then?” At that instant, you die from a massive stroke.
-> why I never accept a compliment.
Note to my high-school-era self: #8 IS NOT HOW YOU CONDUCT HEALTHY ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS.
…I think we all get a bit of a pass in high school.
As someone who compliments people a lot, I feel like maybe I shouldn’t now. I just see so many women out there owning a particular aesthetic or wearing an amazing colour or wearing a piece of incredible jewellery, often I’m interested in finding out where they got it or if they made it or know the artist. I never thought that people might think I was making fun of them or insinuating something negative. 🙁
Jesus H. Christ, stop that at once.
I love being complimented! I compliment a lot too–and I don’t plan to stop.
Don’t worry about it. Compliments are good for most people, including the giver.
Mallory, your posts are always way too timely.
I hate how when one person compliments your appearance, the eyes of EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY turn on you to verify this praise.
I’ve just discovered my reaction to this phenomenon is to go mute, stone-faced, and blindfold my eyes with one hand like I’m facing a firing squad.
It was awkward enough that they let me stumble away.
Once in college I was drunk and a friend told me I had pretty eyes and I told her that “I’m not friends with LIARS”
I’m fun.
Great article! I am not sure whether these are the best ways to accept compliments and praise though. In some situations, perhaps it is better to just thank them for the compliment?
Does it mean I misunderstood everything you just wrote, when I want to compliment your terrific writing profusely?
nice body!
thanks, it’s mine
How did you see into my soul like this? Where are you hiding? In my house? My heart?
I know it is an ad, but I do love Aldi’s “As Irish as the Inability to Take a Compliment”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T013exV1RFg
Sometimes I say to Mr. Rose, “Where did you get such stunning blue eyes?” He always says, “I stole them.”
I am fond of replying to declarations of affection with AHA MY PLAN IS WORKING or some derivative of such.
I have no answer to replying to compliments because I have programed my brain to be completely unaware that this has ever happened ever what even is that word I don’t know.
Library security, pausing by my desk: “You look like a princess today!”
Me: “Iiiiiiinteresting”. *narrows eyes*
Go on, I DARE you to respond worse than that.
(I was wearing a very large, bling-y gold necklace).
I remember giving a guy I liked in college a compliment after his music recital, conquering my shyness to go congratulate him. He had been laughing happily with his friends, and then he turned all stiff and sober to thank me. I thought at the time he just really didn’t want to talk to me because he was a snob and thought I was a nobody. I found out later that he was just shy and awkward. Sniff.
YOU ARE A BLOODY GENIUS.
It doesn't work for things like tallness, but for stuff like hair and eyes and whatnot, I'm a fan of "Thanks, I got it for my birthday!" Works well for name compliments too.
AARGH I need to read the entire thread from the article posted days ago before making a post that someone has already made. Here's hoping that taking to the sea will help in this instance too. ::sails away, the merfolk to be my only companions henceforth::
This is a wonderfully written short piece. Surreal, cutting, truthful and witty. Well done.
And yes, yes I want you to rip your nails out and throw them at me.
I see your awkwardness in the face of compliments and raise you “being British”
I have tried 3 times to “tip the toast” and have been told it was not successful. I give up. I wonder how many others have given up. Your code is faulty people. Let us tip the writers.