American Idioms and Expressions

Back Handed Compliment Idiom

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Back handed compliment
What does Back handed compliment mean?
A compliment that also insults or puts down at the same time.They gave me a backhanded compliment when they said I was smart for a girl.
Back-handed is synonymous with left-handed. For example in tennis, a backhand stroke is a strike by a right-handed player from the left side of the body.
The left side of the body has always been deemed sinister. The Latin word for left is sinister. Hence, back-handed means round-about, indirect, or devious.

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