Comments on: Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies

By: Christina Martin

Christina Martin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:17:26 +0000

First, may I say what an excellent post this is!
Actually, I think the flattery can, in many cases, serve a valid and sincere purpose, which may be why people enjoy receiving it. Allow me to give two examples: a man who is wooing a woman flatters her. She knows it’s flattery; yet she feels complimented, anyway, by the fact that he bothered to make the effort of engaging in flattery. A second example: a woman compliments the clothing of a co-worker. It’s a shallow compliment, yet the recipient realizes that it is a way of saying more than “I like your sweater.” What it’s really saying is “I’d like to find some way of letting you know that I’m interested in having a positive relationship with you.”
In each case, the recipient of the flattery is (at least subconsciously) responding to the subtext of the flattery, which is a statement that he or she is worth the effort of flattering.

By: skagedal

skagedal — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:55:43 +0000

Vaughan,
The funny thing is, I actually thought that I should write a comment about how much I enjoyed this post and how I laughed out loud at the closing lines – before I realized the self-referential aspect of doing this. And I’m being sincere! You’re the best!
Regards, Simon

By: Mark Tyrrell

Mark Tyrrell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:52:12 +0000

Ah that explains the “charming rogue” phenomenon. You know they’re a rogue but…what the heck you’re charmed by them anyway! And I’d just like to say what a wonderfully written piece : )