As the great artist Kollektivet once said, “Give. Me. Compliments. I said give me compliments.”
We all love ’em. Even those of us who practically leave our bodies out of awkwardness when we receive them. They’re impactful.
So much so we tend to remember them for a long time, like the ones in this Reddit thread:
There were several thousand responses. We’ve pulled some of the more unusual ones here for your reading pleasure.
1. The man who smelled delicious.
A group of drunk girls in a bar gave me a hug because I smelled yummy and wanted to smell yummy too.
– everybodyjustwave
2. A heartbreaking case of the not-gay.
St. Patrick’s Day, late, far from any parade or anything but I’m walking down the street by myself.
A young man stumbles up, asks me if I’m gay. I say no, and the look on his face was like I just told him his parents died in a car crash and his dog was driving.
He asked for a hug after calling me beautiful, and I happily obliged, correctly stating that it was the nicest thing anyone had ever or would ever say to me
Plus I thought it was sweet that he asked for a hug.
– I-am-Sh*tBoy
3. Do you have the chops?
My Chinese (she was from China, came to US for grad school) roommate told me I was better at using chopsticks than her.
I think she just meant I use them in a more formal way, but I don’t care, I was super thrilled anyway.
I loved living with her
– Altruistic_Pumpkin
4. Drive-by praising is the best.
A drunk woman at a bar was walking passed me and stopped and said “in case anyone hasn’t told you, you look really good tonight.”
And then kept on walking.
That was 3-4 years ago, still makes me feel good when I think about it.
– Skyloer
5. All bodies are beautiful.
I had gone into the gynecologist because I had some worries about my iud being out of place (it wasn’t, thank god), my doctor took a look at my x-ray/ultrasound and exclaimed “You have such a beautiful uterus!”
I’ve never received such a strangely uplifting compliment and I’ll never forget it lmao
– bgoin_away
6. A compliment backfire?
In 7th grade, I wore my favorite shirt to school and someone said, “cool shirt”. Felt so good. I wore that shirt at least once a week for the next couple of months.
Then someone said, “Why do you always wear that shirt?” Felt so bad. I only wore it to school again when all my other shirts were dirty
– Lovebot_AI
7. Smooth moves.
My boyfriend in high school was always late for our dates, but would usually show up with flowers.
When I called him out on it he said he was late on purpose because I was beautiful when I was angry.
Probably bulls**t, but well-played!
– careyeb8
8. Brace yourself for this one.
When I was 15 I was working the McDonalds drive through and some guy told me he thinks my braces looks nice on me.
He was a regular and when my braces came off he was like “aww bummer” it was the strangest compliment I’ve ever received
– Red517
9. No need to lash out.
Someone once complimented my eyelashes.
Never did forget that one
– Jump4halen
10. Your biggest weakness can be your greatest asset.
A old gf said I have nice knees.
Although even in my 30s I owned a cane for if i ever stepped wrong, thats 2 weeks of cane.
Apparently visually appealing and stable are 2 different things.
– Chickenfishmagnet
11. Are you hip to it?
A great aunt told me at roughly age 13 that I have great “birthing hips” which my dad assured me was not intended as an insult.
I’m now 28 and 9 months pregnant with my first, so we will soon see if she was right!
– 1upbuttercup
12. Take it where you can get it.
I never mind going to the dentist or the gynecologist…they are the only two people that have ever told me I’m perfect.
– MelMcJames
13. The eyes have it.
Her: “You have a nice eye”
Me: “Do you mean eyes?”
Her: “No”
– oscarfortune1
14. Just doing my duty?
One time when I brought in some used oil to a local auto repair shop, the service technician told me that I was a “good citizen” for doing this.
– Norge2005
15. It’s nice when your compliment is a matter of public record.
In my latest mugshot picture in the description it said slim
– benzoslut420
16. I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.
I frequented a toy store in town when my son was small.
One day I learned the staff’s nickname for me was “Jessica Rabbit”, which I took as a compliment.
– AustinTreeLover
17. Playing matchmaker.
I was at a track meet for my brother and some girl was walking up the bleachers and she dropped 20 bucks and i proceeded to grab it walk up to where she and her mom were sitting.
I said hey you dropped your money and she said thank you but as i was walking back down her mom said to her “you need to get a boyfriend like that”
– deathbygaschamber
18. This sounds like a great job to have.
Walking up to the stage at my graduation, I encountered a guy whose job was to stand there and say, “Congratulations, doctor.”
Over a decade later, I still feel warm and fuzzy thinking about that, even though I have no idea who that was.
A guy on my committee said it first, right after my defense, but I was too shellshocked to process it then.
– ViolaNguyen
19. Compliments AND pizza? Deal.
I once went into a pizza place to pick up my order and the guy behind the counter said “this is free for you, beautiful. Just take it.”
I smiled big, said thank you, and awkwardly just turned and left.
He called out “have a good night!” I think I responded in kind? Got back in the car with my sisters and told them “that dude gave me the pizza for free because he thinks I’m pretty.”
One sister high-fived me and took her share of the pizza money back, the other one asked if I know him or had gone in there before.
Nope. Never saw him again, either.
– EverElusiveKudo
20. Small things with big impact.
I’m 5’2” and petite. I know it’s average, but I’ve always felt small.
In college, an acquaintance and I stood up after class. She looked at me and said, “I always forget how short you are, unincorporated. You have such a big presence.”
Whenever I feel small, I think of this and stand taller.
– unincorporated
21. From the mouths of babes…
Just yesterday, my step kids said to me “Daddy’s changed so much since he met you. He’s a much nicer person now.”
Ngl, totally teared up.
– ShadyElmm
22. A truly wild comparison.
At 16, my best guy friend described me as a wildflower.
We didn’t even hook-up until years later, by then the teen fickle butterflies were long gone- but that compliment reminds me of that time in my life
– ativangirl
23. Carrying on a legacy.
Not sure if this was a compliment but when I showed my grandmother my first office.
She looked at me and said, “this was the reason why I came to America and worked day and night in the restaurant.”
– shaka_sulu
24. It’s so cute I could die.
When I was 5 I met a famous Polish sportsman at the airport, but I was too shy to say anything.
When he was walking away he told his wife that I was a cutie pie.
I remember how wholesome it felt to this day.
– Oslawiony
25. We love a good doppelgänger compliment.
I feel shallow for thinking of these ones right away, but… a few people have told me I look like Penelope Cruz and while I don’t see it, I appreciate hearing it!
– not-a-real_username
26. It’s surprising to learn what’s expected of us.
When I worked at a video store I started checking in the movies in that came in right before closing and then left them in the late bin so the morning people would have to put them back on the shelf.
My boss came in one night after we had closed and went to the pile of late movies and started to scan them. I walked over to him and told him they were already late and he quietly took a few and scanned them. He knew right away he had found the person slacking.
He turned beet red and looked at me and said “Don’t Do that!!! I expect that from those losers (pointing at my coworkers) over there but not from you. You are not like them, you are better than that.!!!” I learned a very valuable lesson that night and anytime I have even thought about not doing the best I think about this. Thank you Ray!!!
– Obieousmaximus
27. Giving someone room to breathe.
I used to have a horribly messy room for years. It was dim and moist from never opening my window and having a heavy curtain over it. I rarely washed my sheets and blankets. I had tons of old stuff from the years piled up in my room. It was disgusting.
One day I got fed up with the mess and began cleaning. It took almost a week but in the end it was a whole new room. I got rid off my old stuff and clothes, took down the curtain and opened my window, got new sheets and blankets that I wash frequently, began painting on canvases and hanging them up. I essentially switched to minimalism.
One of my best friends and I were sitting in my room, when he told me that he could meditate in my room because the energy was so good. That compliment means so much to me
– CrescentMoon1127
28. Everything’s better under the sea.
I’ve always dealt with self image issues due to being a bigger woman. I hate myself most days, but just for fun, a friend who does professional photos let me have some fun taking cute photos. We messed around with some LED light strips, and I just remember him saying to our other friend, “Heh. She looks like a mermaid.”
For some reason that made me feel awesome, especially coming from him because he kinda loves mermaids. I dunno. Weird complement but it stuck.
– Beesechurger88
29. Socks to be you.
In high school I wasn’t disliked but I was pretty quiet and only had like 4 friends. One of my wardrobe staples was always wearing funky socks with my outfits, and somehow during senior week (when our whole senior class goes to the beach for a week after graduation) I ended up at this house party with a bunch of the popular kids. In passing conversation one of the popular guys mentioned to me that I “always wore cool socks”.
Never forgot that lmao it was really cool to hear that people actually noticed me when I thought they didn’t
– BacardiLime
30. I need more information about this story, but I like it.
That this one girl that is being escorted out of the cafeteria while being loud and obnoxious, then she pointed at me and said ” I like his laugh”. It made my day.
This happened in 6th grade middle school, now I graduated high school.
– flavor_town_fugitive
Never pass up the opportunity to give someone a weird compliment. I promise, they’ll never forget it.
What’s the strangest compliment you’ve received?
Tell us in the comments.