I was once sitting around, minding my own business, when a customer––this was back when I used to work in retail––informed me that I had amazing fashion sense. That was nice. They then told me it looked like I "knew how to dress myself cheaply" which was true, just not necessarily so for the outfit I was wearing at the time.
How should I have taken that? I still don't know, but this person was certainly insistent on letting me know, beckoning me to listen from the top of the ladder I stood on at the time.
I'm far from the only person to receive a weird compliment though.
People shared their stories with us after a Redditor asked the online community:
"What's the weirdest compliment you've ever been given?"
Oh?
"You have a really amazing posture!" by some random woman in an elevator at work a few years ago."
BigBearSD
That's not bad! Time and place though... time and place.
"I had pink eye..."
"I had pink eye and the nurse was looking into the non infected eye. "You have beautiful retinas." Thank you...?"
[deleted]
If you manage to have beautiful retinas even while dealing with pink eye, you deserve all the props.
"My four-year-old son..."
"My four-year-old son told me I smelled like music. When I asked what kind of music he said “music you dance to”. Still the best compliment I have received to date!"
sdurb
This is precious and it undoubtedly made your day!
"16 years later..."
"My high school best friend gave me the best compliment I have ever gotten, and I've never heard that phrasing anywhere else."
"When I first met you I thought you were like a shiny red apple, and I expected to be disappointed by a beige inside. But you are as bright and colourful all the way through."
"16 years later, I still remember that. (We are still friends.)"
ipakookapi
Very glad to hear that your friendship has endured. This is lovely.
"One of my best friends..."
"My friends and I were talking about what kind of potatoes we'd be. One of my best friends told me "You'd be a loaded baked potato. People pay extra for that good s**t."
silvermoonchan
Now that's a friend! And this is the perfect material for a Buzzfeed quiz.
"I'm not sure..."
"I'm not sure it was a compliment but I had a cashier at Walgreens tell me (at like 1am) that I had the facial structure of a Druid."
somemetausername
I'm not too sure either but you might as well roll with it.
"I still don't know..."
"You're like a crow swimming in milk."
"I still don't know what they meant."
Rolypolyoly1877
I'm not even going to try to figure this one out. Good for you, I guess?
"Used to work retail..."
"Used to work retail and my voice is surprisingly deep for my looks. Customer once explained it saying that I "sounded like I've been drinking whiskey since I was born."
Diddyfire
Maybe you have! Is there something you'd like to share with us?
"Doctor told me..."
"Doctor told me my inner ear structure looked exactly like the ones in the medical textbook. So I guess I've got that going for me."
Go you! Your doctor probably geeked out.
"I was playing in a badminton tournament..."
"I was playing in a badminton tournament and had a woman thirty years my senior come up and tell me that I have perfect eyebrows (I'm a dude). Apparently she was a professional make up artist and had an eye for such things."
SMRPDX
You might as well own it!
Some of these are actually nice... though I still don't know what in the world that person meant about a crow swimming in milk.
Have stories of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
Sometimes when people speak, they leave you stunned.
You have to wonder what is running through people's minds.
Compliments are lovely until they sound like a reason for a restraining order.
Redditor dannydevitocuddleswanted to hear about the things people have said to others, thinking they were trying to make a person feel good, but just left bewilderment. So they asked:
"What's the weirdest compliment you've ever received?"
I lead with simple honesty when complimenting. Be me...
Umm...
Dentist GIF by girardentGiphy"Your oral cavity is wonderful to work with! So spacious! - my dentist."
Fessir
Head Beauty
"Was told I have a beautiful brain while doing a paid MRI study."
Dylan619xf
"I guess seeing the brain is just really cool for that person. Maybe it was the fact that he was seeing a real life active brain and the person using it, when usually any other picture of a brain is from an unloved textbook. It’s crazy to think that our whole world is stored in like five pounds of sentient flesh."
Piggus_Porkus_
From Behind
"My girlfriend in college once said that she wished she had legs like me."
HersheyTheBrownBear
"One of my daughters’s classmates saw me walking into school. When he found out I was her mum he said to her, 'Man, your mum looks like she could snap someone in half with those legs!' Thank you, leg press machine!"
OneArchedEyebrow
Readers...
"You look like you read books for fun."
Thehoobywotzit
"Better than my friends husband saying to me 'I didn’t know you could read' Lmfaoooo dude was such a jerk to me. I stopped talking to them. The really great thing is I remember before he said that to me he told us he doesn’t like to read because it hurts his head… Lol."
Stoneybaloney111
And my Nose?
listen i can't hear you GIF by NBCGiphy"You have a cool left ear"
"All i could think was 'well wtf is wrong with the right one?' Lol."
bigkeef69
Are you writing these down? Just to make sure they're NEVER used again!!
Ok Hannibal
Nba Playoffs GIF by Milwaukee BucksGiphy"Optometrist told me my eyes were physically perfectly healthy and they’d make perfect specimens."
onlyeverthus23
I can Run
"You are surprisingly nimble for a fat guy."
bigdaddy151025
"I've been chubby for years but when I was younger I was in gymnastics. Early high school I went to a friend's house for a little get together grill party thing. Some of the kids were dancing and tumbling and whatnot in the huge lawn they had. I proceeded to do a long a** string of cartwheels as I could still do it even as chubby as I had gotten. My friends were stunned. It was great xD."
Havik989
Sound Off
"I have a perennial baby face and am a pretty quiet/shy individual but have a deep voice. Someone in one of my classes held the door so I said thanks. The girl holding the door did a double take and shouted 'WAIT THATS WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE???' And honestly that'll stick with me for the rest of my life."
SchuyWalker
Look Away
peeing feels so good GIFGiphy"Nice stream bro, while I was peeing in a bathroom at Chicago O'Hare."
CaptainChancla
People... y'all really need to think before you speak. Please. Oh my...
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