‘You actually look quite nice.’
A damning appraisal as some effort had gone into grooming that day, new dress too. It is true that the complimentee, me, may need to try harder if they wish to achieve a greater level praise. The complimenter definitely needs to put more effort in if an actual compliment is intended. Of course this may not be the case, but if it is, leave out the qualifying ‘quite’ and reconsider the inclusion of ‘actually’. You might want to replace ‘nice’ with something more effusive too. There is, of course, the option to stay mute. Nobody minds not getting complimented.
Here are some examples of poor levels of praise/criticism.
Leonardo da Vinci paints nice pictures.
Michael Angelo is quite good at decorating.
Boris Johnson is a deficient politician.
A couple of days after the quite nice incident, on a trip down Golborne Road, Portobello Road and Memory Lane, an old acquaintance greeted me with ‘still as gorgeous as ever’.
I’m now able to take a view that the truth regarding how my aging self is judged sits somewhere between quite nice and gorgeous. This is a sliding scale depending, to some extent, on if my hair is clean and styled and if I’m wearing a good bra and shoes.
Going forward I’m aiming for quite gorgeous and hope to achieve the higher end of alright.
Having taken the time to write this, read and reread it a hundred times because I’m dyslexic, I’m left wondering if I really care.
Probably not.
fat tart 