Men tell women compliments in the hopes that it’ll make a woman feel good, but there are a few lines that end up making a woman feel very uncomfortable instead.
The innocent appearance
A grown man telling a woman, ‘You look so innocent,’ is pretty strange because it’s not clear what he’s trying to say. He might mean that she has a youthful face, or that he likes her lack of experience. Whatever it is, it’s creepy.
The situation only becomes worse when a guy says it in a flirty voice because it doesn’t come across as a compliment. Stick to telling a woman that she’s beautiful. The truth is, it’s weird when a man speculates about how innocent a woman is.
The childhood comparison
It’s a similar problem with the line, ‘I bet you were beautiful as a little girl.’ Most women aren’t expecting to hear that on a date. There’s no reason that he should be thinking about what she looked like as a child, especially since she’s standing right in front of him as an adult.
Yes, he might’ve been trying to say that she’s always been pretty. That seems harmless enough. But there are ways to do that without imagining what she looked like as a child and flirting with her. This kind of line is only going to make her feel uncomfortable, that’s for sure.
The sleeping beauty
Newsflash, it’s not romantic hearing that someone has been watching you sleep. Guys might think they’re being sweet when they say, ‘You look even prettier when you’re sleeping,’ but that’s not how most women take it.
They immediately want to know when he was watching her in the first place. You’re completely unaware of what’s happening around you when you’re asleep, and the majority of women aren’t going to be happy that a guy was watching them.
The family resemblance
There’s nothing wrong with noticing similarities between people. The thing is, there’s a time and place for that. There aren’t many times when you can say, ‘You remind me of my mother (or daughter)’ without sounding like an absolute creep.
A guy definitely shouldn’t say it during a romantic conversation, and he shouldn’t try to make the similarities into something positive. He shouldn’t be praising a woman for looking like his mother or child. Maybe he just means they have the same smile or eyes, but still, it’s kind of weird.
The unexpected detail
There are so many things that a man could compliment about a woman, and they don’t even have to be physical things. By far one of the worst compliments is something like, ‘You have such a beautiful neck.’ How strange.
It’s such an unusually specific thing to notice that a woman’s going to feel creeped out by it. The ‘compliment’ only gets worse if he says it while looking at her throat. Your neck is such a sensitive part of your body. Bringing attention to it is more uncomfortable than anything.
The baby prediction
Some guys just need to look at a woman’s hips and start thinking about babies. They’ll let a woman know that, too. Yes, they’ll say something like, ‘You have child-bearing hips,’ and think that they’re somehow being nice to her.
They think they’re praising her curves. But really, it’s a weird way to do that, and it’s a line that assumes a lot about a woman. She might have zero interest in becoming a mother. Yet now, her potential for childbirth is a topic of discussion.
The endless gaze
When someone in a movie says, ‘I could stare at you all day,’ it sounds rather romantic. But hearing it from a stranger is something completely different. He might think that she’s genuinely gorgeous and can’t find a better way to express it.
There’s something uncomfortable, however, about someone telling you they want to spend hours looking at you. It makes a woman wonder if the guy’s going to continue watching her once the conversation ends.
The personal observation
It’s not unusual for a man to tell his girlfriend or wife, ‘You have such soft skin.’ It is unusual when a guy says it to a woman he’s not in a relationship with, though. When a guy says it, he’s bringing attention to something that’s pretty personal and intimate.
It’s also a terrible way to begin a conversation. You’re better off saying something a little less physical and certainly less invasive than talking about a woman’s skin. Most women don’t hear a ‘compliment’ like this the first time they meet someone.
The warning disguised as praise
A guy who says, ‘You’re too beautiful to be walking around alone’ most likely thinks that he’s being somehow protective, like he’s saying something she needs to know. But this line is actually quite unsettling.
Think about it. He’s telling her that he noticed that she was by herself, and that her appearance could attract unwanted attention. That’s hardly the kind of thing she wanted to think about while she was walking home, so it only makes things awkward.
The vulnerable moment
It’s embarrassing enough crying in front of somebody. But hearing that they’re somehow enjoying the way you look, well, that only makes matters worse. Some guys say, ‘You’re so beautiful when you cry’ without thinking much about it.
They might think that they’re being sensitive, or even that they’re making a woman feel attractive at a difficult moment. That’s not what she wants. No, she’d rather have someone listen to the things that are actually bothering her, and a man enjoying her vulnerability feels strange.
The real-life inspection
It sure is awkward when you meet somebody from a dating app. You’ve got to deal with the small talk and the nervousness, for a start. Then comes the moment when you’re both trying to figure out whether you actually like each other, and it’s at that moment that a guy might say this.
He’ll say something like, ‘You look so much better in person.’ It’s a line that’s meant to be flattering, but really, it sounds like he’s been comparing her face with her profile pictures. She didn’t want to get a review of her appearance.
The age difference
Whenever an older guy goes on a date with a younger woman, he’ll probably say something like, ‘You make me feel young again.’ He’s only trying to say that he enjoys the way that she makes him feel.
But he’s actually making a big deal about their age gap, and it’s something that she might not even have been thinking about. That’s not all. This line also treats a woman like some kind of fountain of youth. She’s probably not going to like that.
The view from behind
There’s one thing and one thing only that a woman hears in the line, ‘You look beautiful from behind.’ She hears that a man has admitted to watching her when she couldn’t see him. Yes, he’s basically saying he was checking her out when she turned around.
The ‘compliment’ only becomes more awkward when it comes from someone like a coworker. A woman doesn’t want to spend her working day wondering whether a guy’s looking at her, after all.
The doll comparison
No, saying to a woman, ‘You look just like a little doll’ doesn’t sound like a compliment. A guy might be trying to praise her big eyes or delicate features, yet that doesn’t make it seem any less creepy.
For starters, dolls are toys. Many of them are designed to look like little girls, and they usually have absolutely no say in what happens to them. These aren’t exactly the qualities most women want a guy to admire them for, really.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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