Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange
Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [compliments]

For questions related to polite expression of praise or admiration.

26 questions
101
votes
11 answers

Complimenting a female co-worker without coming across as flirting?

I am asking this question for a friend. My friend is straight, male, and married to a woman and loyal to his wife. He is a somewhat socially awkward person. He works in an office of software engineers. The other day, my friend was telling me one of…
ElizB
  • 3,545
  • 2
  • 15
  • 53
43
votes
16 answers

Is it socially acceptable to dismiss a compliment?

Sometimes I get compliments like: "good job on making that website" or that I look nice or something. I often say that much more people look better or I could have done the site better, or even saying that I didn't do a good job. So my question: Is…
Termatinator
  • 1,156
  • 1
  • 10
  • 22
41
votes
3 answers

How do I tell between compliments and 'ball' jokes while juggling?

While training juggling in a park, from behind me I heard a female's voice say, "You are really good with your balls." The vocal inflection was that of a compliment, but she didn't reference juggling so my initial reaction was that she had made a…
Stephen Meschke
  • 585
  • 1
  • 4
  • 7
35
votes
8 answers

How to respond to "empty compliments" after many years of playing along?

I am currently a church musician (pianist) and have been at the same church for many years. There is this one guy who quite frequently walks over to me while I'm playing, always making comments directed towards me such as "you just get better and…
Mickael Caruso
  • 527
  • 1
  • 4
  • 10
23
votes
3 answers

How to tactfully respond to compliments when I don't feel I deserve them?

I'm the most senior developer on my current team, and I often get asked for help by my teammates. Sometimes when they ask for help, it's with something that I think is fairly obvious or easy to do. When I help them, I get some sort of compliment,…
Rainbacon
  • 9,026
  • 3
  • 37
  • 75
15
votes
2 answers

How can I let my male friends know how much they mean to me?

I (male in my mid-20s) recently found a girlfriend and another really close female friend, which I highly value in my life. I found that I can openly share my feelings with both of them, and after doing so I realised I never talk about such things…
Suimon
  • 1,571
  • 1
  • 5
  • 29
13
votes
9 answers

How to deal with an employer's backhanded compliments?

This is no longer a problem, as he has moved on and I have retired, but I still don't know how it could/should have been handled. I'll write it in the present tense, though. My employer in the Emergency Department (who is also a family friend) will…
anongoodnurse
  • 24,776
  • 15
  • 79
  • 122
12
votes
1 answer

How could I have better handled telling this minority woman I liked her cultural hairstyle?

Background This happened in Netherlands. I have some mixed ancestry. I mostly look like a Dutch person, except for my curly bush of hair and my olive skin. In school I got bullied a lot because of my hair. I've only recently stopped straightening my…
Belle
  • 8,020
  • 10
  • 35
  • 57
12
votes
3 answers

On what to compliment someone with anorexia in order to improve their body image?

I'm in an online support group for people with anxiety, depression and these kinds of things (I already talked about it in this question). The other day, someone with anorexia (her words) posted a picture of herself, explaining how she feels ugly…
Ael
  • 17,168
  • 12
  • 56
  • 121
12
votes
1 answer

How to compliment a woman’s makeup?

Situation: Yesterday I was instructed to go to a small conference several of my colleagues were attending. It was short in duration and gave everyone the opportunity to socialize a bit after it was finished. I talked with my new friend (female)…
Anilla
  • 3,336
  • 1
  • 9
  • 42
11
votes
5 answers

How to politely turn down my surprise birthday celebration at work?

I have been working for a company for more than five years. It is a fairly small company with less than ten employees. Yesterday, I overheard one of my colleagues discussing about a surprise party they are going to throw on my birthday. I really…
VadaCurry
  • 135
  • 1
  • 5
10
votes
4 answers

Appropriate response to compliments that come across as rude?

I get a lot of strange compliments on my weight and I do not think I have ever been able to sort out an appropriate response. I get compliments about my weight (and questions on how I stay so thin or lost weight after babies). I don't do anything…
threetimes
  • 10,057
  • 1
  • 21
  • 52
9
votes
1 answer

How can I let my team leader know she is appreciated

I work as a software developer for a company that has recently started to use agile practices. For those unaware of the term, part of the agile process is to have retrospective meetings where the team look at how they can improve their processes in…
IParry
  • 193
  • 1
  • 4
8
votes
2 answers

I do art. When people say "draw me", do I include their physical appearance flaws?

So I draw little caricature-doodles for fun and am decently good at it. Sometimes people ask me (very casually, not for pay or anything) to draw them. What if this person is overweight or has an obvious flaw like a big nose or acne? Should I draw…
Flurpy
  • 205
  • 1
  • 3
7
votes
9 answers

Is it rude to compliment Northern/Western European girls on their appearance?

In countries like China, Japan, South Korea (the three countries I'm most familiar with), it is quite common, though a few feminists here and there don't like it, that men mention a girl's appearance directly and compliment on it. Girls also like to…
Blaszard
  • 1,806
  • 2
  • 12
  • 28
1
2