Is there a term for a compliment that is given by favorably comparing one person to another or by putting another person down simultaneously?
I recently received one and found I lacked a term to describe them and the mix of competitiveness, superiority, guilt, and pity you feel in response.
Edit: There seems to be a little confusion about what I'm looking for, so please allow me to clarify. This should be an actual compliment. The salient point is that it builds one person up while tearing another down. Instead of just saying you're good at something, it says another person can't approach your level of performance (as an example).
Best Answer
The most appropriate term will depend on the situation and who is being compared to whom. As an example, if someone tells Bob You're a hundred times funnier than Stephen Colbert, Bob should take that as a huge compliment because objectively speaking, Stephen Colbert is a good comedian. However, if the compliment was : Stephen Colbert is a much worse comedian than Bob, this is lexically ambiguous, bitter-sweet, and probably a left-handed compliment.
I would suggest that any of the following are appropriate when both people being compared are peers or colleagues of one another.
When Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) painted the portrait of the Scots poet Beattie; one of the demons Beattie is seen driving away, was identified as being Voltaire
The Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters and Sculptors By Allan Cunningham