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“A Bit Weird, But Okay”: Our Community Shares The Weirdest Compliments They Ever Received (40 Stories)
Say what you want, but the skill of complimenting someone is a very subtle one.
Some praises are like magic wands that always work. For example, "Talking to you is like a breath of fresh air!" or simply, "Wow, you look beautiful," or "You tell the craziest jokes."
However, there are plenty of people in the world who choose to stray from the traditional path of praise in favor of something more original, peculiarly specific, or downright bizarre, leaving their unfortunate targets to wonder whether they should be flattered, irritated, confused, deeply amused, or perhaps, all of the above.
I asked the Bored Panda community to share the weirdest compliments they ever received, and truth to be told, the responses did not disappoint.
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“Nice muscles… for a girl,” a football player at my school said this to me, roughly 10 seconds before I almost broke his arm in an arm wrestle.
Never mess with a swimmer. Or a girl. Or a girl that swims. I guarantee that you will be injured either mentally, physically, or both.
"I hate pretty girls. They think they can get what they want with their looks. That's why I like you."
... so I'm not pretty. Ok.
I was in a Barnes and Noble once and a woman told me that she liked my aura. Apparently, it was very bright and positive so it was a nice compliment.
"You're so tall & pretty! Are you a stripper?" - Some Random Lady at Walmart. And she was completely serious as she offered me a job at the local strip club after I responded "No."
A woman once said to me with exaggerated enthusiasm, "Oh, I just love the way you apply your makeup! It looks so natural - especially your blush! And I know what I'm talking about because I used to sell makeup."
I replied, "I'm not wearing any blush. That's just a mild case of rosacea."
"You are pretty for a black girl."
Umm eww.
𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚎𝚕! 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢, 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝙰𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗, 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗, 𝙷𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌, 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚚𝚞𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎!!!!
As a black girl please stop holding us to beauty standards! Just because we are black doesn't mean we are not as pretty! This comment makes no sense and is rude. If you want to compliment us then compliment us. Don't say the above comment. Please.
I was told by an elderly white lady that “You’re a pretty little colored girl.” I was in college and it was around 2001 or so. I don’t feel like she was trying to be hurtful or disrespectful, but I didn’t know how to respond.
Ugggggggg!!! Some of these older generation people. I've had to educate some of my family members who were shocked that saying that was offensive. They truly mean no harm, but their ignorance NEEDS to be corrected and called out.
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That's f----d up! That's the same as saying "you're pretty smart for a girl"
That's such an awful thing to say in general. But I'm a white guy who prefers dark skinned women, so it sounds even more ridiculous to me...
An ex-friend once said "She's pretty...for an Asian girl," to the lovely bartender that took care of us at least once a week. He didn't try to keep her from hearing it and he had no idea why I looked him like I did - he thought it was hilarious and was quite proud of his joke.
I have been told that a lot of times - way more than you can imagine. I've also been told I'm smart for a "black chick." Like, WTF? You're not complimenting me! I've heard, "I don't like black people, but I like you." No - you can't like me if you don't like Black people, dummy.
In grade school a friend of mine said Michael Jackson was cute "for a black guy" and it totally confused me. I kept asking her what she meant by that last part of her sentence. We got into a big fight and are no longer friends now.
You are pretty for ... is always cringe worthy. A fat girl, an Asian girl, someone with really short hair, etc. Just don't. "You're pretty" is a complete sentence.
I grew up 80s so hearing this all the time from ppl was nothing new, but to say that to some one nowadays...wow. I would def tell that person to GTFOH
All women are beautiful, regardless of race, skin color, age, weight. The most important trait is not seen.
Thats awful. A woman is a woman, I see many beautiful dark skinned women, what next, "you're pretty for a blue eyed girl"?
"You have eyes like a cow. Jersey cow. Jerseys are pretty foxy for cows." Stop digging laddie.
To be honest - the Jersey cows ARE really pretty, especially their eyes!
Not even sure if this was a compliment, but someone once told me, I'd be useful in an apocalypse.
Them: Wow! You’re weird!
Me: thank you!
Them: *Awkwardly turns around*
Random man at a shopping center, back when I was a teenager, "It's not right for a girl to be tall, dark, and handsome!"
In days gone by, ladies were often referred to as 'Handsome' it went out of popular usage. That was actually a nice (if a little odd) compliment x
Following a routine colonoscopy, my gastro doctor said I have a "perfect colon." I said, "Thank you!"
People would pay good money to have a perfect colon, I am envious :)
Once my crush's mom complimented me on my socks in front of my crush and then she told him to look at my socks and I felt plain awkward.
My friend told me I was an off-brand Energizer Bunny.
The PA at my doctor's office always tells me I have beautiful eardrums during my annual visit. One time she even told another doctor to look at them. The other doctor was also impressed.
When I was pregnant a coworker told me I looked like Mother Earth. He meant it as a compliment.
Perhaps it's just me, but I feel like automatically saying the first thing that pops into your head is NOT an advisable strategy for most of the "compliment" givers mentioned on here...
You're more beautiful than a new set of snow tires! (I'm from northern Minnesota.)
Sounds like a weird but well meant comment to me! Unless "snowtire" is slang for something over in Minnesota.
You are really smart for a woman.
"You look like you can kill someone with your calves." I have pretty muscular legs.
I wore a new t-shirt with a purple cat on it to college. Us students from different classes got squeezed together into one room for a lecture on internships.
In the middle of the lecture, in the center of the room, and with every student's full attention, our teacher suddenly falls silent. He peers over the rim of his glasses, at my shirt.
"...Nice pussy."
Teach must be real old school, like from when p**y still meant a cat.
"You have really nice veins."
"Wow! You look really good in clothes!"
This was said in front of my new husband. He was a customer of mine, I'm an automobile mechanic and he had never seen me in anything except uniforms before.
"You're so pretty, except you're fat. At least your face is pretty."
A lot of people praise my eyelashes. I am a man, and the only thing I know about my eyelashes is that I have them...One woman told me that when I die, I could donate them to her and she'd get them made up as false lashes. Not creepy at all!
"Your hair is beautiful. I'd like to ask you out but I would want to control your hair. I'd want to be your hair master."
This was a compliment I received on the "About Me" section on a dating website:
"I really like your syntax."
My friend told me I was "Strange, Unusual and very truthful with what I say."
She was being nice and said she liked having someone who was different and can trust when they say something.
I have twice visited places I once worked at and have been told that "it is a lot less weird around here since you left."
Ok this legit could be said about me and I'd totally take it as a compliment. Lol
"You ar not as ugly as most gingers and lucky you 're a woman, and you only have freckles on your face...."
"Your voice is much bigger than your body." Still not 100% sure it was a compliment. Low key bothers me occasionally.
"You look like a beautiful vampire." (I have very pale skin)
"Your scleras are so white, you must be very healthy!"
“I love your new glasses. They make you look smart.”
"If you were a superhero, you'd be Deadpool." Still don't know how to take it, DP is a bad @ss, but that skin condition...
I'd be flattered, tbh. Deadpool rules, I hope whoever said it to you meant it in a good way!
"You smell... *Long sniff* Like champagne and roses." I still do not know what that means.
My endodontist told me, while I was being prepped for oral surgery, I had "nice, long roots." Thanks?
You are better at sports than other Indian girls.
Like wtf
1. "Usually, I don't like people like you but you are cool though."
2. "You're so different than I imagined."
Friend said that I have a beautiful neck and asked if she could stroke/touch it?
Note: this post originally had 114 images. It’s been shortened to the top 39 images based on user votes.
As a teenager with braces on, I was sitting on the bus one day and smiled at a little girl with her mother. The little girl tugged on her mother's sleeve and said "Mommy! That lady has diamonds on her teeth!"
My mother calls me fat as a compliment and it doesn’t bother me contrary to what others think because when my mom was my age she tried to gain weight because of how thin she was and it never seemed to work.
Just some thoughts here from me: Ladies, so you know guys often don't get complimented very often and thus we remember a compliment (even the weird ones) for a very long time and with a lot of impact. Feel free to compliment someone, you may have a bigger impact than what you might know. I'm a guy so trust me on this one. I truly wish I had received a lot of these compliments back in my youth or even now. Perhaps a less lonely existence might have resulted in my life.
I often compliment people. And I truley mean it. Nothing beats seeing a cashier smile if you compliment their lipstick or earings.
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"I wish my girlfriend had your personality. Then she would be perfect!" I was the chick with the awesome personality, but was too fat to actually date.
I had someone tell me that she really liked my hair and then ask if it was natural. It was two-tone black and cherry red at the time.
"From the way you write I thought you were a man!" I still have no idea what that was supposed to mean.
I hope you f*****g murdered whoever said that. Stereotypical little b***h
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I sat down one of my classes and a nice lady sitting behind me tapped my shoulder and asked how many kids I have. I told her none and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You have very wide, gigantic hips! You'll never notice these babies slip out of you when you're birthing them. Lucky girl!" ☹️
was in a relationship with a guy (this was like 40 yrs ago). we hit it off well. but, i noticed that he never introduced me to his friends/associates and was careful as to where we would go. finally, asked him what his problem was. he told me that i was everything he could ever want in a partner but...he wished i was prettier. needless to say, i walked then and there. when a friend of his bumped into me he asked if i had seen the guy. told him no and why. he then pulled out his wallet and showed me a group pic of the guy and his ex wife who was model material. the friend said he was stuck on some "type' and not to think twice about him. i didn't need that advice because i had already moved on. such an ass hat
I was once told I reminded a gentleman of his elderly brother who had passed. I was a 23 female at the time. He further clarified that it was my personality. Definitely cleared that confusion right up :o/
1) random dude at a restaurant at like 2pm "you have gorgeous ears" what the actual fu¢k? 2) my gyno who told me I have an adorable uterus
Mine told me "Oh, you have such a nice and unusual hooked cervix!". Thanks, l guess?
Load More Replies... I was hospitalized with covid related pneumonia. A Dr. Popped in complementing me on the perfectly crackled chest x-ray. He asked if they could use it with the interns. Perfectly damaged lungs complement? Does this make me a model?
Older white co worker telling me I don’t look Chinese…followed up a few weeks later with “You look like Mulan!”(1998). So thanks, I don’t LOOK Chinese but I look like a cartoon.
"Honey, I've been watching you all night, I can't decide if you're a luscious southerner
The weirdest I got was an opponent football player, who was marking me in the game, saying I smelled nice after the game. I was 14 or 15 at the time and we're all dudes. It was the 80s. I think I said it was the shampoo or something. It was really awkward.
You were all dudes ... Let me tell you something, honey 😉
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"I like you. Attractive people are bitches." like are you calling me ugly or complimenting me.
A guy in HS called me Starla. I finally asked him why. He said I have a star shape in my left eye. I have green eyes with gold lines. This guy said the gold lines were in the shape of a big star around my pupil. He didn't mean this as a compliment though. He said it like an insult to assert my "fragility in femininity". He fancied himself an intellectual. Always trying to "educate" me on female issues. Yet he threw papers at my head, hid my stuff, and tripped me constantly. His last name was Stafford. He got a staff infection. So I proceeded to call him Staff Infection for the following 6 months until it was picked up by everyone else too. He stopped calling me Starla. :) I decided to pretend his weird name calling was a compliment after I made some friends because of it.
*staph infection. From the staphylococcus family of bacteria.
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Have had different people on multiple occasions tell me that my hands are very soft, probably one of the weirder complements I have received
Once a guy told me I had the face of a s**t. When I didn't say thankyou and just looked at him, because honestly wtf, he said No you are taking it as an insult. I don't mean it like that, I just mean to say you look like you know what you are doing in bed. That is a right assumption sir, but no thanks. Didn't get why I didn't go back to his place. Tried to bribe me with drugs. Didn't work.
Aargh, this censoring! Took me forever to get that you meant SLÙT, not SHÏT! 😅 That makes so much more sense!
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Apparently I looked hot/sexy when I was pissed off. Comment from a boy in high school.
Some of these were horrible! "You have nice legs for a fat person" to are pretty strong for a girl" bad. Poeple.
I once had a vampire (phlebotomist) tell me I had, "Nice veins for a heavy person." I was like, "Thanks?" Continued with, "Most heavy people have bad veins because they don't drink a lot of water." I was nearly 40, 190 pounds and very pregnant. And I was only as hydrated as I was because I'd read an article years ago from a nutritionist who swore by drinking a liter of water a day per trimester. I was in my third trimester and three liters of water a day. I have no idea if it worked but I never had hemorrhoids.
A lot of these are just badly worded complements. I wish people wouldn't be so quick to critique.
"you look like the type of person who could tell someone they were dying, and they'd be fine with it"
Before I had kids I dressed way more as a mix between metal head and punk than I do now. I used to wear this collar with spikes on my neck and I started in a new class at the university and this guy told me that I surprised him so much because he thought that people who dressed like me usually seemed so angry or sad but I was always so happy and smiling. I said thanks and went to get something to drink.
Not me...my grandfather meant to compliment my grandmother's sense of smell when he said she smells like a bloodhound. She pointed out that wasn't really a compliment, if you think about it. Flustered he tried again, "I mean you smell as good as a bloodhound!" He meant well.
"My new girlfriend is so hot. If she had your personality, she's be perfect!" Yep. I'm the awesome personality but fat girl!
I was oddly proud of "you have a very clean belly button!" I was going in for surgery, and they were going to do microsurgery partly through the navel, so it had to be very clean to avoid contamination, and the doctor complimented me on how clean I kept my navel. Felt oddly proud ... maybe because it was one of the few things I didn't have something wrong with, lol.
Oh my God! I read that entirely wrong and thought it said butt-hole. I wondered why the cleanliness of it would matter if you were having navel surgery.
Load More Replies... I was at the grocery store within the last year and a woman told me how pretty my hair is (I'm a natural redhead) I thanked her & said well it's always been this way, she replied with "well you paid for it". I must have looked surprised momentarily because she then said "oh is it natural".
A former coworker once said “You have the longest eyelashes. Are they real?” Um…yes they are.
i had twice when someone in my class complimented me on eyeliner and lipstick when i wasn't wearing
"The whites of your eyes are so white. It's a sign of good health"
Two separate dudes that claimed to like me informed me that I have "child bearing hips." One time I was making out with a dude at a party and he suddenly pulled away and said "Whoa, I didn't expect to get so turned on from you." Ouch.
As a teenager with braces on, I was sitting on the bus one day and smiled at a little girl with her mother. The little girl tugged on her mother's sleeve and said "Mommy! That lady has diamonds on her teeth!"
My mother calls me fat as a compliment and it doesn’t bother me contrary to what others think because when my mom was my age she tried to gain weight because of how thin she was and it never seemed to work.
Just some thoughts here from me: Ladies, so you know guys often don't get complimented very often and thus we remember a compliment (even the weird ones) for a very long time and with a lot of impact. Feel free to compliment someone, you may have a bigger impact than what you might know. I'm a guy so trust me on this one. I truly wish I had received a lot of these compliments back in my youth or even now. Perhaps a less lonely existence might have resulted in my life.
I often compliment people. And I truley mean it. Nothing beats seeing a cashier smile if you compliment their lipstick or earings.
Load More Replies... "I wish my girlfriend had your personality. Then she would be perfect!" I was the chick with the awesome personality, but was too fat to actually date.
I had someone tell me that she really liked my hair and then ask if it was natural. It was two-tone black and cherry red at the time.
"From the way you write I thought you were a man!" I still have no idea what that was supposed to mean.
I hope you f*****g murdered whoever said that. Stereotypical little b***h
Load More Replies... I sat down one of my classes and a nice lady sitting behind me tapped my shoulder and asked how many kids I have. I told her none and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You have very wide, gigantic hips! You'll never notice these babies slip out of you when you're birthing them. Lucky girl!" ☹️
was in a relationship with a guy (this was like 40 yrs ago). we hit it off well. but, i noticed that he never introduced me to his friends/associates and was careful as to where we would go. finally, asked him what his problem was. he told me that i was everything he could ever want in a partner but...he wished i was prettier. needless to say, i walked then and there. when a friend of his bumped into me he asked if i had seen the guy. told him no and why. he then pulled out his wallet and showed me a group pic of the guy and his ex wife who was model material. the friend said he was stuck on some "type' and not to think twice about him. i didn't need that advice because i had already moved on. such an ass hat
I was once told I reminded a gentleman of his elderly brother who had passed. I was a 23 female at the time. He further clarified that it was my personality. Definitely cleared that confusion right up :o/
1) random dude at a restaurant at like 2pm "you have gorgeous ears" what the actual fu¢k? 2) my gyno who told me I have an adorable uterus
Mine told me "Oh, you have such a nice and unusual hooked cervix!". Thanks, l guess?
Load More Replies... I was hospitalized with covid related pneumonia. A Dr. Popped in complementing me on the perfectly crackled chest x-ray. He asked if they could use it with the interns. Perfectly damaged lungs complement? Does this make me a model?
Older white co worker telling me I don’t look Chinese…followed up a few weeks later with “You look like Mulan!”(1998). So thanks, I don’t LOOK Chinese but I look like a cartoon.
"Honey, I've been watching you all night, I can't decide if you're a luscious southerner
The weirdest I got was an opponent football player, who was marking me in the game, saying I smelled nice after the game. I was 14 or 15 at the time and we're all dudes. It was the 80s. I think I said it was the shampoo or something. It was really awkward.
You were all dudes ... Let me tell you something, honey 😉
Load More Replies... "I like you. Attractive people are bitches." like are you calling me ugly or complimenting me.
A guy in HS called me Starla. I finally asked him why. He said I have a star shape in my left eye. I have green eyes with gold lines. This guy said the gold lines were in the shape of a big star around my pupil. He didn't mean this as a compliment though. He said it like an insult to assert my "fragility in femininity". He fancied himself an intellectual. Always trying to "educate" me on female issues. Yet he threw papers at my head, hid my stuff, and tripped me constantly. His last name was Stafford. He got a staff infection. So I proceeded to call him Staff Infection for the following 6 months until it was picked up by everyone else too. He stopped calling me Starla. :) I decided to pretend his weird name calling was a compliment after I made some friends because of it.
*staph infection. From the staphylococcus family of bacteria.
Load More Replies... Have had different people on multiple occasions tell me that my hands are very soft, probably one of the weirder complements I have received
Once a guy told me I had the face of a s**t. When I didn't say thankyou and just looked at him, because honestly wtf, he said No you are taking it as an insult. I don't mean it like that, I just mean to say you look like you know what you are doing in bed. That is a right assumption sir, but no thanks. Didn't get why I didn't go back to his place. Tried to bribe me with drugs. Didn't work.
Aargh, this censoring! Took me forever to get that you meant SLÙT, not SHÏT! 😅 That makes so much more sense!
Load More Replies... Apparently I looked hot/sexy when I was pissed off. Comment from a boy in high school.
Some of these were horrible! "You have nice legs for a fat person" to are pretty strong for a girl" bad. Poeple.
I once had a vampire (phlebotomist) tell me I had, "Nice veins for a heavy person." I was like, "Thanks?" Continued with, "Most heavy people have bad veins because they don't drink a lot of water." I was nearly 40, 190 pounds and very pregnant. And I was only as hydrated as I was because I'd read an article years ago from a nutritionist who swore by drinking a liter of water a day per trimester. I was in my third trimester and three liters of water a day. I have no idea if it worked but I never had hemorrhoids.
A lot of these are just badly worded complements. I wish people wouldn't be so quick to critique.
"you look like the type of person who could tell someone they were dying, and they'd be fine with it"
Before I had kids I dressed way more as a mix between metal head and punk than I do now. I used to wear this collar with spikes on my neck and I started in a new class at the university and this guy told me that I surprised him so much because he thought that people who dressed like me usually seemed so angry or sad but I was always so happy and smiling. I said thanks and went to get something to drink.
Not me...my grandfather meant to compliment my grandmother's sense of smell when he said she smells like a bloodhound. She pointed out that wasn't really a compliment, if you think about it. Flustered he tried again, "I mean you smell as good as a bloodhound!" He meant well.
"My new girlfriend is so hot. If she had your personality, she's be perfect!" Yep. I'm the awesome personality but fat girl!
I was oddly proud of "you have a very clean belly button!" I was going in for surgery, and they were going to do microsurgery partly through the navel, so it had to be very clean to avoid contamination, and the doctor complimented me on how clean I kept my navel. Felt oddly proud ... maybe because it was one of the few things I didn't have something wrong with, lol.
Oh my God! I read that entirely wrong and thought it said butt-hole. I wondered why the cleanliness of it would matter if you were having navel surgery.
Load More Replies... I was at the grocery store within the last year and a woman told me how pretty my hair is (I'm a natural redhead) I thanked her & said well it's always been this way, she replied with "well you paid for it". I must have looked surprised momentarily because she then said "oh is it natural".
A former coworker once said “You have the longest eyelashes. Are they real?” Um…yes they are.
i had twice when someone in my class complimented me on eyeliner and lipstick when i wasn't wearing
"The whites of your eyes are so white. It's a sign of good health"
Two separate dudes that claimed to like me informed me that I have "child bearing hips." One time I was making out with a dude at a party and he suddenly pulled away and said "Whoa, I didn't expect to get so turned on from you." Ouch.
