backhanded compliment

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backhanded compliment

An insulting or negative comment disguised as praise. She said my new pants really make my legs look much slimmer. What a backhanded compliment!

backhanded compliment

 and left-handed compliment

a backhanded compliment

1. A backhanded compliment is a remark which seems to be praising someone or something but which could also be understood as criticism. Saying she's improved comes over as a backhanded compliment. Reviewers gave the play the backhanded compliment that it was `surprisingly impressive'.
2. A backhanded compliment is a remark which seems to be criticizing someone or something but which could also be understood as praise. They were seen as the ones most in need of some culture. This was a backhanded compliment: it implied that they were capable of appreciating the highest works of art.

a ˌbackhanded ˈcompliment

(American English also a ˌleft-handed ˈcompliment) a remark that seems to express admiration but could also be understood as an insult: She told me that my essay was ‘surprisingly good’, which I thought was a backhanded compliment.
References in classic literature ?
Sweary critiques include "This is just a s*** hipster Wetherspoons", to backhanded compliments such as "Come to BrewDog, there are relatively few w*** here for a Saturday".
From all the backhanded compliments about spoiling tactics, parking the bus and smothering Liverpool's front five, you would have thought Manchester United reneged on a promise to go gung-ho and get picked off by prior arrangement.
Now, I have heard worse backhanded compliments, but does Kelly have a point?
In fact, this practice is so mainstream that there's a new set of backhanded compliments which are, in reality, meant to wound.
Melbourne, August 7 ( ANI ): Jennifer Anniston has revealed that she hates backhanded compliments of being told that she looks great "for her age".
com/2013/01/30/csi-ny-dui-carmine-giovinazzo-danny-messer/) arresting officers said that Giovinazzo was "one of the nicest people they've ever arrested," apparently embracing the notion of backhanded compliments in the process.
Incredulous, dramatic, backhanded compliments are W.
Descriptions like 'wholehearted' and 'consistent' can be backhanded compliments, implying a lack of bite or craft in a sportsman.
The 26-year-old says that when she does get spotted by fans, they usually offer her backhanded compliments.
The French have previous for being gallant losers who congratulate British cyclists with backhanded compliments.
And Arsene Wenger's programme notes - full of attempts to crank up the pressure on Claudio Ranieri's title-race gatecrashers which should actually be viewed as backhanded compliments - said it all.
I'm getting sick of the backhanded compliments that we work hard and all that.