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Damned By Faint Praise: Difference between revisions
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''Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,
''Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.''|"Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" by [[Alexander Pope]]}}
Sometimes we can't just say something is bad. Perhaps we are being nice, or perhaps we are in a situation where negative comments are frowned upon. It could be that we are expected to give a positive response. Break out the faint praise!
To damn something with faint praise is to point out that something is mediocre or worse by praising it in ways that make its weaknesses clear. To say that a computer "looks sleek" as the primary point of praise would indicate that it is not that amazing as a computer, for example. To describe a person as punctual when asked about how they perform at work carries the heavy implication that this is their one valuable trait.
Related to many [[Insult Tropes]]; can be the result of a [[Compliment Backfire]]. May take the form of an [[Overly Narrow Superlative]] or a [[Trivially Obvious]] statement. See also [[So Okay It's Average]] and [[You Are a Credit to Your Race]]. Contrast with [[Stealth Insult]], which also damns people through "praise" - in that case, though, the praise is illusionary rather than merely weak.
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** Fred Dagg on the subject: "Like so many other jobs in this wonderful society of ours, the basic function of the real estate agent is to increase the price of the article without actually producing anything, and as a result it has a lot to do with communication, terminology, and calling a spade a delightfully bucolic colonial winner facing north and offering a unique opportunity to the handyman."
** ''Freakonomics'' features a list of good and less-good things estate agents describe houses as, for instance "Good neighborhood" means there are good houses nearby even if this isn't one. And if the description/ad ever includes an exclamation point that means you should avoid it like the plague (since that means there is literally ''nothing'' the agent could praise about the house and thus felt the need to add fake enthusiasm).
*** 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 [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."
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* In ''[[30 Rock|Thirty 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.
* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "Tapestry" {{spoiler|Picard changing the past and not getting involved in the fight that caused him to get his heart replaced with an artificial one has caused him to become a Lieutenant Junior Grade paper pusher instead of a legendary starship captain. When he goes to Troi and Riker asking about his performance, they end up falling into this.}}
{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Riker'''}}: {{spoiler|You're a good worker, reliable... punctual.}}}}
** In the episode "The Chase", Picard's old archaeology professor describes one of his papers as "informative", to which Picard himself replies "[[Invoked Trope|Damning with faint praise]]".
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* A ''[[Father Ted]]'' example, when Ted asks Mrs Doyle if she considered him to be one of the best priests in the country (perhaps ''the'' best?) she says that he's probably the ''second'' best priest. This sends him into a [[Heroic BSOD]].
** To clarify: aside from various guests who come for an episode now and a again, the only two other priests in the land are a simpleminded manchild, and a senile, alcoholic pervert.
** He takes no further consolation when Mrs. Doyle reveals she was thinking of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, pointing out that he's a Protestant.
* ''[[Big Wolf on Campus]]'' episode "That Swamp Thing You Do!", possibly combined with [[Stealth Insult]]:
{{quote|'''Tommy''': So, what did you think of my acting skills?
'''Merton''': I think you combined the articulation of [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] with the emotional range of [[Jean
'''Tommy''': Thanks, man! }}
* In season one of ''[[Angel]]'' Angel and Wesley describe Cordelia's acting as having "good projection" and said that she had "taken the role and made it her own."
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GC: H3 H4S ST4BB3D YOU ON MOR3 TH4N ON3 OCC4S1ON!
CG: SOME OF THOSE STABBINGS WERE ACCIDENTAL!
GC: >8|
CG: OK, WELL I KNOW FOR A FACT THE THIRD TIME WAS ACCIDENTAL. }}
** Another one from Jane, [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006050 comparing build grist to the fruit Gushers they look like]:
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{{quote|'''Critic:''' "But give him some credit, though. ...He's tall."}}
* Three words: "Cool story bro". If this is the only compliment you receive regarding whatever it's you're trying to pitch to your audience, then you've failed entirely.
* The ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog|Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog]]'' song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOxFbQRQHSU&feature=related So They Say]" features numerous characters praising [[Smug Super|Captain Hammer]] and his relationship with [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|Penny]]. When she gets a line, however, she merely calls him "pretty okay" and is clearly distracted by hopes that her friend [[Anti-Villain|Billy]] will show up.
* In [[Moviebob]]'s review of [[Rob Zombie]]'s ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]] II'', he says that it's the best ''Halloween'' film since [[John Carpenter]]'s original, though he admits that, given the standards of all the ''Halloween'' movies released in between, that's not saying much. [[Subverted Trope]] in that he enjoyed the film anyway in spite of its flaws.
* In [[The Lizzie Bennet Diaries]], Lizzie challenges her incredibly kind sister Jane to say ''something'' nice about Darcy. The only thing she can give? "He's so...ah. Eeh. He's um- no, no no....He's tall."
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** In another bit, Marge mentions qualities she likes in Homer and Lisa then says, ''I like Bart's... I like Bart!''
* In a ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode, one of Peter's cutoff gags had [[Ringo Starr]] showing the rest of [[The Beatles]] a song he had just written. Their response? "Very good! We'll put this right on the fridge, right here where everyone can see it."
** When Brian made Stewie say something nice about [[Diablo Cody]], he said, "I . . . envy the tattoo artist who had that huge canvas of arm fat to work with."
* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', an unintentional example of this nearly trips up our hero.
{{quote|'''Aladdin:''' Princess Jasmine, you're very...um...
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Sophie: Well, she answered every question. }}
* On one episode of ''[[Total Drama World Tour]]'', [[Geek|Beth]] has to come up with a haiku highlighting one of [[Alpha Bitch|Heather]]'s positive attributes. The first line is "[[Trivially Obvious|Heather has ten toes]]," and the rest summarizes how that makes swimming easier.
* ''[[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|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?"
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* ''[[Daria]]:''
{{quote|'''Jake:''' ''(on Daria's school photo)'' Wow, that's really sharp focus!}}
** Also in the episode "Too Cute": everybody is gushing about a minor character's new nose job, which Quinn politely says is "cute." Everybody acts as though this minor praise is a tremendous insult.
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** Or "That baby's just as [cute/sweet/lovely] as it can be!"
* The reason that "compliments" like "[[You Are a Credit to Your Race|She's really good for a black person]]" are so loaded with [[Unfortunate Implications]] is because they come across like this.
* Abraham Lincoln reportedly asked Thaddeus Stevens about the honesty of a man being considered for a cabinet position. Stevens replied that "I do not believe he would steal a red hot stove."
* "Nice" is also a word which doesn't mean much when complimenting someone. Nice is the way people say someone is 'meh'. Lets say if the most memorable enduring part of them is "nice" they aren't that special.
** There's a modern proverb in german that goes "Nice is the little brother of shitty".
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[[Category:Insult Tropes]]
[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]
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