left-handed compliment
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English
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
left-handed compliment (plural left-handed compliments)
- (idiomatic) A complimentary remark which is ambiguous or ineptly worded, so that it may be interpreted as having an unflattering or dismissive sense.
- 1921, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 16, in Nobody's Man:
- "We have sat through the whole of dinner and not once mentioned politics."
"You made us forget them," Tallente murmured.
"A left-handed compliment," Jane laughed.
- 1964 October 30, “The Morning After”, in Time, retrieved 7 October 2013:
- In a somewhat left-handed compliment, UN Secretary-General U Thant described Russia's new bosses as "competent and unpretentious."
- 2006 March 19, David Orr, “On Poetry: Samuel Menashe—New and Selected Poems”, in New York Times, retrieved 7 October 2013:
- alling someone a "neglected master" makes for one hell of a left-handed compliment.
Synonyms
See also
References
- “left-handed compliment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.