Women Share the ‘Innocent’ Compliments Given to Them By Men That Were Actually Pretty Offensive

Everyone can think of at least one time in their life when they meant to say something nice but ended up botching the delivery, or a time when they were on the receiving end of such a “compliment.” Female Redditors were all too ready to share their own examples of such compliments, and their responses are doozies.

A lot of the attempted compliments range from creepy to so disturbing someone should probably call the FBI, including one cab driver who told a woman she looked “kidnappable” and another Uber driver who said to someone, “Women fall asleep in the back of my Uber all the time. I could rape them but I don’t.”

Um, thank you for not committing sex crimes, sir?

What even is the correct response in that situation? Same goes for the man who told a woman, “You’re so pretty if I knew where you live, I’d totally watch you with my drone.”

Others are just embarrassing and painful, including someone who overheard a colleague telling their COO, “I bet you were a stunner when you were younger,” or a prospective new client who said about someone’s wife, “I’ll bet she’s stunning when she’s thinner.” In that case, the man stood up for his wife, responding with, “She’s always been around that weight, and she’s always been stunning.” To which they maddeningly doubled down and asked, “You mean you married her like that?”

Oy.

One of the most confusing and least disturbing examples was when a man tried to compliment a woman on her muscular legs and told her, “You have horse legs,” which, in her words, “left me envisioning myself as a literal centaur.” Centaurs are majestic as hell, so I’d definitely take that compliment.

Others referenced 2004’s Napoleon Dynamite, particularly when Napoleon told Deb, “I see you drinking 1%. Is that cause you think you’re fat? Because you’re not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to.”

A random compliment from a stranger can brighten someone’s day, assuming you’re not creepy as hell in both your demeanor and delivery. If you find yourself about to say something like “You’re really pretty for an Indian” or “You’re really smart for a woman,” consider keeping your mouth shut instead.