I Like Your...

You know how people say stuff like 'I like your shoes', 'That's a nice shirt', 'your new haircut is awesome', or some such nonsense?

What are you supposed to say to that?

I believe the normal response is to thank your admirer. But that doesn't seem right to me.

It's not like most people made their own shoes or designed their shirts or anything, so they can't really be admiring the cobbling or textile design skills of the wearer.

I suppose, perhaps they must actually be complimenting the excellent clothes choosing skills of the wearer.

So rather than saying 'I like your pretty dress,' perhaps we should say something like: 'Well done for picking an item of clothing that doesn't make you look like a tramp!'

But then, some people choose their clothes simply because they have a particular company's name on or because an advert or celebrity told them to. So it seems a bit pointless to compliment their clothes choosing abilities.

My own method of choosing clothes is mostly to assess it's blackness and therefore my likelihood of wearing it. I'm not much interested in the the cut of my jeans or the pointyness of my shoes. Mostly I'm just interested in their blackness.

On that basis, perhaps my response should be along the lines of: 'Thank you for noticing how black my clothes are.'

It's a bit strange when people compliment me* when I'm wearing blue or green or brown clothes because it just means I've run out of black ones. I think they must be confused.


( * which, for the record, never happens! )