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Damned By Faint Praise: Difference between revisions
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*** One book (I believe it was ''The Lying Ape'' took this on as well. It said an apartment described as "cosy" meant you could cook a meal, watch television and answer the front door without getting up from the toilet.
* The Finnish government recently ran a study of the quality of all spectacles on sale in the country. The results concluded that they were all pretty much as good as one another. Newcomers to the market ''Specsavers'' ran a front-page advert congratulating a rival optical chain on being just as good as them. Specsavers' products are about a third of the price...
* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20131102231334/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/battlefieldearth.php DVD Verdict review for] ''[[Battlefield Earth]]'' comments that "You know you have a stinker the size of Texas on your hands when the best review quote they could find for the box was '...great scene transitions and some of the better special effects of the year...'" The reviewer himself takes it even further in "The Evidence" part of his review (where praise of a film's good qualities normally goes) by going, "Umm...lemme see...the DVD itself is a picture disc. And there are end credits. See, I can spot the good in everything if I try."
* A review quoted on the back cover of a [[Lensman]] novel by E.E. "Doc" Smith reads: "Fine for science fiction addicts." It's like an endorsement for methadone.
* On page 3 of his comic "The Master Plan!", [[Johnny Turbo]] bursts out, "And they're giving you games that we '''already''' have! Why, we released '''''[[Sherlock Holmes]]''''' on CD almost '''two years ago!!'''" ''Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective'' isn't well remembered for being a [[Killer App]], to put it mildly.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Doujin Work]]'', when Najimi shows Tsuyuri and Justice her first finished doujinshi, the first thing they compliment is the good quality of the paper it is printed
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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* Knives Chau takes this route in ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'s Finest Hour'', when telling the newly formed Shatterband what she thought of their first performance ("You guys have so much potential!"). Young Neil opts for [[Brutal Honesty]] instead.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Happens with Kakashi of ''[[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]]'', who suffers [[Badass Decay]] in this fic and frequently loses against [[Mook]]s. As such, da cooger is less than enthusiastic when talking about his strength in combat
{{quote|'''da cooger''': "RONAN! I HAVE FAITH IN U! NOT THE XTIAN FATH DUH BUT THE GOOD FAT! U R STROG ND SO IS KAKSHI 2 I GUES"}}
== [[Film]] ==
* In ''[[Amadeus]]'', this trope practically defines Mozart's relationship with Salieri.
* In [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Ed Wood (film)|Ed Wood]]'', the only positive thing found in any review on one of [[Ed Wood (creator)|Ed Wood]]'s plays is ''"The soldiers' costumes are very realistic"''. The director, being [[The Pollyanna|Ed Wood]], desperately tries to spin this into something positive later on: ''"Victor Crowley himself praised its realism"''.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Reversed by [[Dorothy L. Sayers]] in ''[[Lord Peter Wimsey|Murder Must Advertise]]''. At one point, describing one character's comments on another, our detective protagonist Lord Peter uses the phrase "...praise him with faint damns".
* In ''[[
* In [[Jane Yolen]]'s historical novel ''Queen's Own Fool'', when Queen Mary is about to marry Darnley, she asks her friends' opinion of him. They don't want to upset her by pointing out that Darnley is a [[Jerkass]], so they dodge the issue by praising his other qualities.
* For lack of anything better to say, Jack Ryback from [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|Mike Nelson's]] ''Death Rat!'' at one point earnestly praises his literary agent as "the most well-groomed man I've ever met."
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** The only honest compliment that Ned can give Robert about his reign was that he was a better king than [[The Caligula|his predecessor]].
*** The sad thing is that going fourteen years with only one minor, easily-won war and only a moderate economic crisis puts Robert solidly into the top 25% of Westerosi kings.
* In the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'', the recently-widowed Ekaterin Vorsoisson is being questioned by the authorities about the recent death of her husband and, given that their relationship was (to put it charitably) highly strained for years is challenged by her interrogator if she ever admired anything about her husband at all.
{{Quote|'''Ekaterin:''' He never hit me, you know.
'''Miles Vorkosigan:''' (thinking to himself) ''When I go down into the ground at last, I pray my best-beloved may have better to say of me than 'He didn't hit me'.''}}
== [[Live
* 2010 [[Academy Award|Oscars]]
* In ''[[30 Rock]]'', Liz compliments Jenna like this multiple times in the episode "The Rural Juror". Indeed, [[Rashomon Style|there are two sets of flashbacks in the episode, one from each of their perspectives]] (Liz's depicts her as attempting to be kind, while Jenna's emphasizes the insulting aspect.)
* The main premise of an ''[[iCarly]]'' episode: Carly's webshow lands a sponsorship from a new type of wonder shoe. When the shoe fails to deliver, the team piles on "faint praise" to fulfill the contract without lying to their fans.
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* Quite possibly used in [[Talent Show]]s (e.g. ''[[The X Factor]]'', ''[[American Idol]]'') Use this as a way to appear positive, but in fact put down the contestant's possible vote. See [http://www.sofabet.com this website] for further analysis.
== [[Oral Tradition|Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends]] ==
* [[The Fair Folk]]. Nobody could truthfully say they're anything better than [[Mystical Waif|pretty]]. Amazing? Wonderful? Awesome? Terrific? Yes, if you [[
== [[
* The book ''Theatrical Anecdotes'' speaks of a producer who, when invited to a friend's show that really sucked, would congratulate them with the phrase, "My dear! Good is not the word!"
* In ''[[Hairspray]]'', Tracy's mother thanks Velma Von Tussle for letting Tracy appear on her TV show (she didn't, actually; the decision had been made without her and she protested vehemently). Velma diplomatically replies, "Well, Tracy has certainly... redefined our standards."
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[xkcd]]''
**
** [http://xkcd.com/802/ Online Communities 2] does this with its [[Alt Text]] by way of [[Overly Narrow Superlative]].
* In one ''[[Boy Meets Boy]]'' [http://boymeetsboy.keenspot.com/d/20001201.html strip]:
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** Another one from Jane, [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006050 comparing build grist to the fruit Gushers they look like]:
{{quote|But unlike Gushers which serve many practical purposes like inducing vomiting and simulating the experience of eating plump insects, these things are totally useless!}}
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has [[Big Screwed-Up Family|morality and internal relations of the Storm Lords' clan]] as one of running gags. So when Violetta tries her best to eulogize a deceased aunt, [
== [[Web Original]] ==
* [[Homestar Runner
{{quote|Strong Sad has been disowned by his brothers Strong Bad and Mad. On the plus side, he has good handwriting!}}
** These days, other characters tend to skip straight to damning him with regular old damnation.
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* ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' subverts this when Aunt May tries to set [[The Hero|Peter]] up with [[Fiery Redhead|Mary Jane Watson]], saying she has "a wonderful personality." Peter shudders, quite certain it means she's ugly, and the phrase "wonderful personality" becomes a [[Running Gag]]. [[Hello, Nurse!|Then Peter actually meets her]].
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Done accidentally by Aang in 'The Cave of Two Lovers'. He and Katara aren't sure how to get out of a labyrinth, and Katara suggests that, based on the story they've read, maybe they're supposed to kiss. When Katara tries to play it cool, Aang takes it too far, acting like he wouldn't want to kiss her at all. He tries to save it by telling Katara that he'd rather kiss her than die, which he thinks is a compliment. Katara... doesn't.
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' sees this happen in "Lesson Zero". Twilight Sparkle, [[Sanity Slippage|(literally) madly desperate]] to find a friendship problem for her weekly report to Princess Celestia, tries to ''make'' a problem by getting the Cutie Mark Crusaders to fight over her favorite childhood toy, Smarty Pants. The Crusaders aren't interested in the ratty old doll, however, but are trying to be polite about it. When pressed to compliment it, the only thing Sweetie Belle can come up with is "Um, I really like her... mane?"
** Happens again in ''Read it and Weep'', where the only thing Rarity can think of to comfort the just-hospitalized Rainbow Dash is that the hospital gowns match the curtains.
* ''[[Daria]]:''
{{quote|'''Jake:''' ''(on Daria's school photo)'' Wow, that's really sharp focus!}}
== [[Real Life]] ==
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