Page 51 - Perfect Phrases ESL Everyday Business

Chapter 6

Giving and Accepting

Compliments

A compliment is a positive remark of praise, admiration, or approval.
Everyone values honest acknowledgment of a job done well or an
attractive object or a fine quality. Giving a compliment is more often
said as “paying a compliment.” People from the United States tend
to pay compliments more easily and more often than people from
other countries. There is, however, a fine line between never paying a
compliment and over-complimenting. You don’t want to compliment
everyone on everything; excessive complimenting to a person is flat-
tery or over-praise. The related word, flattered, can be used in a posi-
tive way as well, “Your report was so good that the boss wants to use it
at the regional meeting.” “Well, I am really flattered [honored].”
Another related expression is “fishing for compliments,” or
attempting to manipulate someone into saying something nice about
you. For example, a colleague may say, “This assignment is beyond
me; my English isn’t good enough for me to attend such a large meet-
ing and to talk to so many people in English.” The colleague may be
waiting for you to say, “Of course you can. Your English is improving
every day, there will be other foreign nationals there, and the CEO
wants you to represent the company. He chose you.”

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