It seems like you’re trying to ask this nicely, which is good, and I don’t know how Swimmer963 feels about this so I’m not upset on her behalf, but in general I read this sort of comment as less insulting when it doesn’t use a phrase like “someone as smart as you”.
...I don’t understand how that part is insulting. I don’t use smart as a weak form of intelligent if that’s what you mean, exactly the opposite in fact. I’m sorry maybe I’m losing some finer point of the English language as I’m not a native speaker, but I would really like you, or someone, to try to explain how that part could possibly be interpreted as insulting because I honestly don’t see it.
Edit: I’m also not implying that it’s work unworthy or anything at all, I’m honestly just genuinely curious why she chose that profession because where I’m from it’s a respected job because people know (or imagine to know) how hard the work is, but simultaneously it’s also a job that’s very much at the bottom of the food chain in terms of pay and status. I’m simply curious why she chose it.
It sort of fits an (not very common) idiomatic pattern where the compliment is empty-to-sarcastic, but it seems pretty obvious that you didn’t intend it that way, and I can’t actually think of any examples I learned the idiom from.
I get it. Makes sense, actually now that you point it out I think I’ve also seen this phrase employed as a “pseudo-compliment”. Rest assured that it wasn’t intended that way.
It seems like you’re trying to ask this nicely, which is good, and I don’t know how Swimmer963 feels about this so I’m not upset on her behalf, but in general I read this sort of comment as less insulting when it doesn’t use a phrase like “someone as smart as you”.
...I don’t understand how that part is insulting. I don’t use smart as a weak form of intelligent if that’s what you mean, exactly the opposite in fact. I’m sorry maybe I’m losing some finer point of the English language as I’m not a native speaker, but I would really like you, or someone, to try to explain how that part could possibly be interpreted as insulting because I honestly don’t see it.
Edit: I’m also not implying that it’s work unworthy or anything at all, I’m honestly just genuinely curious why she chose that profession because where I’m from it’s a respected job because people know (or imagine to know) how hard the work is, but simultaneously it’s also a job that’s very much at the bottom of the food chain in terms of pay and status. I’m simply curious why she chose it.
It sort of fits an (not very common) idiomatic pattern where the compliment is empty-to-sarcastic, but it seems pretty obvious that you didn’t intend it that way, and I can’t actually think of any examples I learned the idiom from.
I get it. Makes sense, actually now that you point it out I think I’ve also seen this phrase employed as a “pseudo-compliment”. Rest assured that it wasn’t intended that way.
I figured it wasn’t.