Melissa Jarvinen is marketing manager for an education company. She lists her top ten compliments that make her cringe.
'You look nice.' When someone says you look nice, they're simply being polite or are unable to think of a better adjective. They don't really mean it.
'You resemble your mother.' Now I'm not sure if this is a compliment. Surely my mother, who has 20 years on me, has more wrinkles than I do? Do you really think saying that will curry favour?
'Your hands are so small!' How big should they be? They are proportionate to the rest of my body and why on earth would that be such an important thing to say?
'What a cute dress!' My personal worst. "Cute" best describes puppies and kittens, not an expensive outfit that I spent hours looking for in a mall. A little more imagination is called for here!
'Wow, you are strong for a girl.' I think we all have the ability to lift heavy things and this should not be regarded as boys-only territory.
'This colour looks good on you.' This is often followed by, "You should wear this colour more". This annoys me because I only like dark colours and when I wear something bright due to laundry issues, someone tells me how nice it is.
'You look fat today.' I assume some people think this is a compliment since they believe it is OK to blurt out the truth. Whether you may be sensitive to it or not is none of
their business.
'Make-up really suits you; you should wear it more often.' I cannot fathom why we want to paint our faces with gunk and then take it off and put it back on when all it does is make your skin dry, flaky, oily and hides the real you.
'Your face is shining.' We know the desert is hot and the heat causes you to perspire. I find it quite rude to comment on a blatant fact. It is natural and nothing can be done about it, so stop pointing it out.
'You are too smart for a girl.' What is this supposed to mean? It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
