I swear I remember pausing it to go "did he really just say that?!" But rewatching the pictured scene in S2E19 he's speaking with Aang who would not be a worthy recipient of such a burn, and he doesn't say such a thing to Zuko in that episode
The greatest thing about about this man is that he's steady, you know where he stands. He believes the same thing on Wednesday that he did on Monday... no matter what happened on Tuesday.
Best one is to respond to something they say with "Oh that's quite interesting" in the flatest tone possible, then move the conversation on to a different topic or exit.
Works particularly well on Americans because in American English "quite" is an amplifier modifier but their brain will be confused by the flat (not sarcastic) tone.
This one's not so brainy, but considering the character it was addressed to it was enough - that being one of my favorite lines from the show Firefly: "Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
During my short tenure in the American South I thought women of all ages were in to me because they'd often say, 'Bless your heart!' and call me 'Honey'.
Turns out I should have kept my head down. Don't be fooled by Southern Hospitality.
Honestly, if someone hadn’t let me in on the secret, I probably still wouldn’t have figured it out. Three thoughts later? This one could take you anywhere from three days to three years to figure out.
Both answers to @PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca seem to imply there's a hidden insult in their comment, but I can't find it.
I'm the dumb cookie and I don't like that
Implying poor taste in fashion. I do think delivery is important here.
I don't have a lot of petty female friends but I've certainly encountered them and they are masters of the craft of two faced insults. Especially involving taste and habits.
My dim brother threw something similar at that me (he always wears whatever plaid is in fashion). I will admit my fashion is loud, but damn if I don't look good. I cheat a little. I have a tailor who will take my cheap button downs and tailor them for 10 bucks so i always look sharp as fuck.
"I love how you are so confident with your body to eat that".
No fat-shamming like girl fat-shamming.
I've on occasion realized like days later that I was being insulted cause my little monkey brain was just thinking.
"This cake is good. I don't know what that has to do with my body confidence ".
Honestly I used to joke that negging doesn't work on me. Not cause I'm so smart I see through it, but that I don't realize some guy is trying to insult me until like the next day. Or sometimes never.
This one guy at a bar after telling him about my graphic novel collection
Him: "you arent that unique you know?"
Me: "yeah I know, Ive met people with similar interests online. There is a whole subreddit on the locke and key series, very popular".
Him: states at me blankly as then i proceed to tell him more about the series he was obviously only half assed pretending to be interested in.
His loss. The locke and key series are fabulous.
I don't have one in English, but I have some in German for those who understand.
My Granddad had a female coworker that was higher in rank than him. He would always greet her with "Meine Allerwerteste". It's a word play because "Meine Werteste" is equivalent to a very formal version of "my dear". "Aller" is a superlative form, so basically "My very dearest". But "Mein Allerwertester" (so the male form of what he used) means "my ass".
The other one is to use terminology like "Er versucht immer sein Bestes zu geben" ("He always tries to give his best"). In Austria, you are legally allowed to ask for a work testimony from your employer when you are looking for a new job. There is some legislation that prohibits negative speech in these work testimonies so that your employer cannot make you look bad in front of your potential new employer (which makes the whole concept pretty useless, but it is what it is). So to get around that, employers adopted a kind of "secret" code where e.g. "tries to" means "fails to". So you can use the same kind of terminology to deliver something that sounds like a compliment, but for everyone in the know (which is most people by now) it's clear that you deeply offended the person you are talking about.
Je viens d'en entendre quelques unes très bonnes :
"Tu n'es pas un père mais un courant d'air."
À une personne qui noie le poisson, "tu prend ton élan pour mentir."
here's the translation but I don't think they work that well in English:
I just heard some really good ones:
"You're not a father, you're just a gust of wind."
To someone who's beating around the bush, "you're taking a running start to lie."
I'm looking for insults so intelligent you don't realise you've been roasted until 3 thoughts later.
Your precocious insipd query's so strongly influential it triggers my ilithiophobia and a solicitude for philanthropic mischance and exponential precarity of inviolability, and thus my small voice has me incapable of answering.
... May take longer than 3 months [Edit, oh, dyslexic misread, it's "thoughts", not "months". I aimed too high.]. May never realise.
PS, I admire your verbal intelligence if you effortlessly get the meaning of that on first read. Quite the vocabulary you have there. Did you swallow a thesaurus when you were 3 years old?
146 Comments
officermike@lemmy.world · 184 pts · 219d
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works · 30 pts · 219d
Was that actually in the show? I don't remember that one.
tias@discuss.tchncs.de · 64 pts · 219d
Don't think so. It's a Nigerian expression.
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works · 68 pts · 219d
There are some good ones:
antonymous_bosch69@feddit.org · 7 pts · 218d
So many good ones in there thank you for sharing!
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 218d
Leftist infighting in a nutshell
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com · 4 pts · 218d
I swear I remember pausing it to go "did he really just say that?!" But rewatching the pictured scene in S2E19 he's speaking with Aang who would not be a worthy recipient of such a burn, and he doesn't say such a thing to Zuko in that episode
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 218d
Faster than wisdom. Ha! Gotta remember that.
nirodhaavidya@lemmy.world · 144 pts · 219d
Every moment I spend with you is better than the next.
nailingjello@piefed.zip · 23 pts · 218d
Bravo, that one took the most thought to figure out it was backhanded.
v3r4@lemmy.org · 12 pts · 219d
Really got me till the third thought xd
Diddlydee@feddit.uk · 140 pts · 219d
Shakespeare had a banger.
"I was going to challenge you to a battle of wits but I see you are unarmed."
I also like.
"I could agree with you but then we'd both be wrong."
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 66 pts · 219d
“I could agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.”
A former co-worker got me with this one many years ago. I laughed out loud. I've never forgotten it.
CentipedeFarrier@piefed.social · 17 pts · 219d
Got in a literal fistfight in middle school using that first one. Pretty sure they didn’t understand it, and lashed out from ignorance.
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 218d
Did you win?
CentipedeFarrier@piefed.social · 10 pts · 218d
Not technically, but they got expelled for it, so yes.
drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 217d
A duel with fists is still a duel
mhzawadi@lemmy.horwood.cloud · 14 pts · 219d
I have a cup with the last line on it
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world · 94 pts · 219d
You're really at the top of the bell curve!
runner_g@piefed.blahaj.zone · 30 pts · 219d
Your intelligence is at least on the top 95% of people.
Jankatarch@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 219d
This took actually long to kick LMAO
bastion@feddit.nl · 5 pts · 219d
me too, but mainly due to "on" rather than "in".
..I'd also replace "at least" with "possibly".
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 2 pts · 218d
probably
QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 219d
so average? is that an insult
Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world · 47 pts · 219d
It sounds like you're calling them intelligent when you're really saying they're nothing special.
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 17 pts · 219d
For about half the people, yea.
thethunderwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 218d
more than a half, becasue those not in the half like to think that they are in the half
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 218d
Good point, but now I'm confused about were I am on the curve.
luciferofastora@feddit.org · 7 pts · 218d
Most people like to feel like they're better than most. Mediocrity is an insult to them.
Blessed are the simpletons that never realise or just don't give a fuck.
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 218d
Yes
FilthyShrooms@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 219d
You represent the 5th percentile really well!
borokov@lemmy.world · 82 pts · 219d
You are hard to underestimate.
18107@aussie.zone · 73 pts · 219d
"See you soon!"
"Not if I see you first"
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 219d
That one took me decades to understand, after someone explained it.
portifornia@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 219d
There's something to explain? I must be missing something. What's the explanation, please?
cvieira@lemmy.ml · 27 pts · 219d
The implication is that if you see them before they see you, you'll make sure to avoid them.
portifornia@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 219d
Ohhhhh! 😂 I had, in all my years, never realized it was so cheeky.
Thank you! (Me => xkcd's 1/10,000 today)
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 218d
Yeah before it was explained it to me, I always thought it was meaningless banter.
piranhaconda@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 218d
I literally dropped my jaw and smacked myself on my forehead, not kidding. I've also heard it before but never realized haha
Sadbutdru@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 217d
To be fair I think that a lot of people also just say it the way you were understanding it, without intending hidden burn meaning...
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 218d
I'm going to use this, and the other insults here on some "friends", that earned my ire.
Deebster@infosec.pub · 7 pts · 218d
If person 2 sees p1, they will avoid p1
Almacca@aussie.zone · 67 pts · 219d
"That's a surprisingly confident take."
IEatDaFeesh@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 219d
"I love your confidence"
https://youtu.be/pC4Y5EJD8uU
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 218d
Reminds me of "bless your heart".
Objection@lemmy.ml · 66 pts · 218d
Colbert at Bush's correspondence dinner:
The greatest thing about about this man is that he's steady, you know where he stands. He believes the same thing on Wednesday that he did on Monday... no matter what happened on Tuesday.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 218d
A burn so severe, so long-lasting, that he no longer has to pay to heat his home.
Romer@reddthat.com · 66 pts · 219d
You are a testament to the quality of the educational system.
nailingjello@piefed.zip · 60 pts · 219d
Not directly related, but I've always liked the comeback
Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk · 54 pts · 219d
Almost every British insult is like this.
ThePyroPython@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 219d
Best one is to respond to something they say with "Oh that's quite interesting" in the flatest tone possible, then move the conversation on to a different topic or exit.
Works particularly well on Americans because in American English "quite" is an amplifier modifier but their brain will be confused by the flat (not sarcastic) tone.
HurricaneLiz@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 219d
Those are cold 😂
Birch@sh.itjust.works · 50 pts · 218d
You cured my impostor syndrome, thank you.
SanctimoniousApe@lemmings.world · 48 pts · 219d
This one's not so brainy, but considering the character it was addressed to it was enough - that being one of my favorite lines from the show Firefly: "Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
treesquid@lemmy.world · 46 pts · 219d
Your ratio of words to significance is extremely high
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 43 pts · 219d
These kinds of insults just make people sound like redditors.
SanctimoniousApe@lemmings.world · 18 pts · 219d
What are the odds that a significant portion of Lemmy/Piefed users weren't at one time exactly that? I figure that number's gotta be pretty low.
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 11 pts · 219d
Yeah, but you can be a redditor without being a redditor (derogatory).
thethunderwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 218d
I am probably one of few lemmings who have never had a reddit account
SanctimoniousApe@lemmings.world · 3 pts · 218d
Enjoy your innocence while you can because you're surrounded, I'm afraid.
bastion@feddit.nl · 8 pts · 219d
Savage!
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 5 pts · 219d
You can say that again.
AkatsukiLevi@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 219d
Savage!
bastion@feddit.nl · 6 pts · 219d
Savage!
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 6 pts · 219d
You can say that again.
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 218d
Savage!
bastion@feddit.nl · 6 pts · 219d
savage!
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 6 pts · 219d
you can say that again.
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 218d
Savage!
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 218d
You can say that again
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 218d
I don't know if I can... getting burned out, by all the savagery.
Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 217d
I wouldn't come here if it weren't for self satisfied know it all's balanced by insecure smarty-pants'.
With a sprinkling of whatever grammar-Nazi wants to correct my comments.
I generally try to hang out with people smarter/more experienced than I in the hopes some of it rubs off on me.
But, I'm also a pretentious twat, so there's also that.
klay1@lemmy.world · 43 pts · 218d
Among everybody here, you have the most potential to learn something.
drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 217d
I've been told that a few times....
klay1@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 211d
good luck out there my friend
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 42 pts · 219d
My the rest of your day be as nice as you are.
QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 219d
i like the "have the day you voted for!" rainbow and clouds bumper sticker
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca · 39 pts · 218d
You can't be underestimated
TheDoozer@lemmy.world · 35 pts · 219d
"My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
-Malcom Reynolds, CAPT.
Big_Boss_77@lemmynsfw.com · 2 pts · 218d
rumetal@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 219d
I like how you live your true self even when it’s not appropriate.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 219d
I'm confused, should I keep stripping, or...
Opisek@piefed.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 218d
Did I tell you to stop?
nailingjello@piefed.zip · 14 pts · 219d
Unironically I think this is the reason why I like one of my friends.
bastion@feddit.nl · 11 pts · 219d
yeah, seriously a great trait. ..in some people.
QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 219d
autism simulator
vaionko@sopuli.xyz · 28 pts · 218d
PixelPinecone@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 215d
This made me laugh. Thank you
vaionko@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 215d
Good to hear my cyanide & happiness obsession bring happiness for someone
billwashere@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 219d
I see you are not hindered by the restrictions of logic.
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca · 26 pts · 218d
Many of these rely on big words, or are actually pretty obviously insults even if you don't understand.
The real gems are the ones that read like simple english compliments, unless you spend actual effort looking for the insult.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 218d
Bless your heart
Rcklsabndn@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 217d
During my short tenure in the American South I thought women of all ages were in to me because they'd often say, 'Bless your heart!' and call me 'Honey'.
Turns out I should have kept my head down. Don't be fooled by Southern Hospitality.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 217d
Honestly, if someone hadn’t let me in on the secret, I probably still wouldn’t have figured it out. Three thoughts later? This one could take you anywhere from three days to three years to figure out.
Sprinks@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 218d
Well aren't you a smart cookie!
Imhotep@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 218d
Both answers to @PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca seem to imply there's a hidden insult in their comment, but I can't find it. I'm the dumb cookie and I don't like that
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 218d
Hey!
That one's about me!
;D
(took a thought an a half.)
Imhotep@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 218d
I don't get it...
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 2 pts · 218d
AAA@feddit.org · 2 pts · 218d
Meaning you don't understand the obvious insults.
shalafi@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 219d
Gotta use a positive tone and smile:
"You're no better than you ought to be!"
TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today · 18 pts · 219d
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StealthInsult
db2@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 219d
Look up Shakespeare's insults. They're literally classic.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 218d
I bite my thumb at you, knave!
daannii@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 219d
A snarky one I heard from a woman to another.
"It's amazing how you can pull off THAT outfit"
Implying poor taste in fashion. I do think delivery is important here.
I don't have a lot of petty female friends but I've certainly encountered them and they are masters of the craft of two faced insults. Especially involving taste and habits.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 219d
My dim brother threw something similar at that me (he always wears whatever plaid is in fashion). I will admit my fashion is loud, but damn if I don't look good. I cheat a little. I have a tailor who will take my cheap button downs and tailor them for 10 bucks so i always look sharp as fuck.
daannii@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 217d
"I love how you are so confident with your body to eat that".
No fat-shamming like girl fat-shamming.
I've on occasion realized like days later that I was being insulted cause my little monkey brain was just thinking.
"This cake is good. I don't know what that has to do with my body confidence ".
Honestly I used to joke that negging doesn't work on me. Not cause I'm so smart I see through it, but that I don't realize some guy is trying to insult me until like the next day. Or sometimes never.
This one guy at a bar after telling him about my graphic novel collection
Him: "you arent that unique you know?"
Me: "yeah I know, Ive met people with similar interests online. There is a whole subreddit on the locke and key series, very popular".
Him: states at me blankly as then i proceed to tell him more about the series he was obviously only half assed pretending to be interested in.
His loss. The locke and key series are fabulous.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 217d
hold on you mentioned cake i forgot what else you said. where'd you get the good cake
zebidiah@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 218d
Wisdom has been chasing you, but you are faster!!
FiniteBanjo@feddit.online · 15 pts · 219d
Don't feel too down, it's not like this project won't be the same without you.
Cattail@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 218d
What you lack in evidence or convincing argument, you make up with conviction.
drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 217d
That's the trick. End with the part that sounds nice
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 219d
You were so cute when I first met you.
NikkiDimes@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 219d
Whoa, we're not negging here
bastion@feddit.nl · 5 pts · 219d
bless your heart.
thymos@discuss.tchncs.de · 13 pts · 219d
From The Royal Tenenbaums:
"Why did you specifically have to point out I'm not a genius?"
"I just don't use that word very lightly."
squaresinger@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 218d
I don't have one in English, but I have some in German for those who understand.
My Granddad had a female coworker that was higher in rank than him. He would always greet her with "Meine Allerwerteste". It's a word play because "Meine Werteste" is equivalent to a very formal version of "my dear". "Aller" is a superlative form, so basically "My very dearest". But "Mein Allerwertester" (so the male form of what he used) means "my ass".
The other one is to use terminology like "Er versucht immer sein Bestes zu geben" ("He always tries to give his best"). In Austria, you are legally allowed to ask for a work testimony from your employer when you are looking for a new job. There is some legislation that prohibits negative speech in these work testimonies so that your employer cannot make you look bad in front of your potential new employer (which makes the whole concept pretty useless, but it is what it is). So to get around that, employers adopted a kind of "secret" code where e.g. "tries to" means "fails to". So you can use the same kind of terminology to deliver something that sounds like a compliment, but for everyone in the know (which is most people by now) it's clear that you deeply offended the person you are talking about.
Hupf@feddit.org · 13 pts · 219d
!rareinsults@lemmy.world
BrickEater@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 217d
What in interesting use of free will
zoostation@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 219d
Snazz@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 218d
I must have used up all my luck before meeting you
vga@sopuli.xyz · 10 pts · 218d
lemmy.ml might be a good instance for you.
BenevolentOne@infosec.pub · 9 pts · 219d
Zozano@aussie.zone · 9 pts · 219d
My brother got sassy with me once, he said "you think you're so much smarter than me, huh?"
"No, I don't think I'm smarter than you."
crapwittyname@feddit.uk · 7 pts · 218d
I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.
pseudo@jlai.lu · 6 pts · 219d
Je viens d'en entendre quelques unes très bonnes : "Tu n'es pas un père mais un courant d'air." À une personne qui noie le poisson, "tu prend ton élan pour mentir."
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 219d
Sorry dude my french is not that good.
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 6 pts · 219d
先生,呢個係香港伺服器。 唔該講廣東話。
pseudo@jlai.lu · 6 pts · 219d
C'est du chinois pour moi !
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 4 pts · 219d
Why do I feel like we've already done this
pseudo@jlai.lu · 3 pts · 219d
I don't remember but honestly we could.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 218d
Lmao
我係廣州出世嘅美籍華人 (I'm a Chinese American Born in Guangzhou)
我未出世就識廣東話啦 (I knew Cantonese before I was even born)
你係乜水來啊?(Who the fuck do you think you are?)
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 1 pts · 218d
I'm ricky :3
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 216d
Hi Ricky
NikkiDimes@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 219d
Wait, is 先生 used as "sir" in Cantonese?
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 1 pts · 219d
According to google translate.
NikkiDimes@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 219d
Oh hahaha
QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 219d
here's the translation but I don't think they work that well in English:
pseudo@jlai.lu · 2 pts · 219d
No, unfortunatly they are not. That's why I wrote them in french.
rumba@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 217d
I love French idioms. A couple of years of high school French decades ago has left me with recognization of maybe a couple of hundred nouns.
blah blah blah blah fish... wait what?
To a person who is drowning the fish.
bizarroland@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 219d
I've never met anyone else so unshakeable in their convictions.
GladiusB@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 218d
I fucked your cousin
Bgugi@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 218d
😀😀😀...😠
Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 218d
I can't imagine a better day than one spent after your company.
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 3 pts · 218d
Your precocious insipd query's so strongly influential it triggers my ilithiophobia and a solicitude for philanthropic mischance and exponential precarity of inviolability, and thus my small voice has me incapable of answering.
... May take longer than 3 months [Edit, oh, dyslexic misread, it's "thoughts", not "months". I aimed too high.]. May never realise.
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 8 pts · 218d
PS, I admire your verbal intelligence if you effortlessly get the meaning of that on first read. Quite the vocabulary you have there. Did you swallow a thesaurus when you were 3 years old?
Redfox8@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 218d
You're so vain, I bet you think this meme is about you.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · -1 pts · 218d