English in a Minute: Backhanded Compliment 

Welcome to English in a Minute.
A compliment is something nice you to say to someone. But what is a backhanded compliment?
Backhanded Compliment
A: Jonathan, Caty just told me my script was good…surprisingly good.
B: That, my friend, is a backhanded compliment.
A: Yes! She was surprised it was good. So, she was expecting it to be bad.
B: Oh, let it go, Anna. Backhanded or not, it’s still a compliment.
A backhanded compliment seems like a nice comment. But it’s not. It’s an insult made to look like a compliment. As you saw with Anna, backhanded compliments can upset people.
And that’s English in a Minute!Originally published at - learningenglis...