pay one a left-handed compliment

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LEFT-HANDED COMPLIMENT.

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Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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left-handed compliment

[left-handed compliment] An ambiguous compliment which is interpretable as an offense. * /I didn't know you could look so pretty! Is that a wig you're wearing?/ A Dictionary of American Idioms

left-handed

[left-handed] {adj.}, {informal} 1. Using the left hand habitually. 2. Crooked; phoney; homosexual. * /Morris is such a left-handed guy./ 3. Clumsy; untoward; awkward. * /Grab that hammer and stop […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

left field

[left field] {n.} 1. The part of a baseball out-field to the batter's left. * /Right-handed batters usually hit to left field./ Compare: [CENTER FIELD], [RIGHT FIELD]. 2. See: [OUT […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

heavy-handed

[heavy-handed] {adj.} 1. Not skillful or graceful; clumsy. * /George is heavy-handed and seldom catches the ball./ * /My sister plays the piano badly; she is too heavy-handed./ * /Tim […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

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