Where did I hear this subtle putdown?
January 12, 2022 11:32 PM Subscribe
Character A makes some kind of error and says something like, "I hope you don't think any less of me." Character B (who doesn't particularly like A) replies, "My opinion of you hasn't diminished at all." I assume this was in a movie or TV show. Ring any bells?
It's the sort of thing I can imagine the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey saying, though I have no specific memory of her doing so.
It's the sort of thing I can imagine the Dowager Countess on Downton Abbey saying, though I have no specific memory of her doing so.
In Community:
Britta Perry : Nobody respects me any less as a political activist, right?
Annie Edison : [after a slight pause] Well...
[everyone in the group fall silent, not knowing what to say]
Jeff Winger : [after a longer pause] The level to which we respect you as a political activist has definitely not changed.
But I'm sure there is one in the Good Place and, probably, 30 Rock.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:53 PM on January 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
Britta Perry : Nobody respects me any less as a political activist, right?
Annie Edison : [after a slight pause] Well...
[everyone in the group fall silent, not knowing what to say]
Jeff Winger : [after a longer pause] The level to which we respect you as a political activist has definitely not changed.
But I'm sure there is one in the Good Place and, probably, 30 Rock.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:53 PM on January 12, 2022 [7 favorites]
MASH has several examples of this, with person B usually being Charles Winchester (the wealthy twit from Boston played by David Ogden Stiers).
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:42 AM on January 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:42 AM on January 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
There must be a TvTrope for this?
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 2:54 AM on January 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 2:54 AM on January 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
It sounds very much like something either Frasier or Niles Crane might say.
posted by Dolley at 5:04 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Dolley at 5:04 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
I love that style of joke! I'm not a humor theorist, but it feels like it's halfway to litotes. I don't know where I first heard it, but I've heard it often enough over the years, and it has a venerable history. What you describe could be the Dowager Queen, or Oscar Wilde on a gentle day, but that big/small overestimate/underestimate humor of contrasts has been around long enough that there was similar in Ancient Greek and Latin texts (e.g.). Maybe not the answer you were looking for, but hopefully you get a few yuks out of the links.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:43 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:43 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
It’s not far off the exchange from Casablanca (from memory):
Peter Lorre: You despise me, don’t you Rick?
Humphrey Bogart: Well, I suppose I would if I thought about you at all.
posted by LizardBreath at 6:26 AM on January 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
Peter Lorre: You despise me, don’t you Rick?
Humphrey Bogart: Well, I suppose I would if I thought about you at all.
posted by LizardBreath at 6:26 AM on January 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
Deep Space Nine, 'In the Pale Moonlight' (1998):
Vreenak: "So you're the commander of Deep Space 9. And the Emissary to the Prophets. Decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor… and oh yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion. Somehow I thought you'd be taller."
Sisko: "Sorry to disappoint you."
Vreenak: "To be honest, my opinion of Starfleet officers is so low, you'd have to work very hard indeed to disappoint me."
posted by googly at 7:50 AM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Vreenak: "So you're the commander of Deep Space 9. And the Emissary to the Prophets. Decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor… and oh yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion. Somehow I thought you'd be taller."
Sisko: "Sorry to disappoint you."
Vreenak: "To be honest, my opinion of Starfleet officers is so low, you'd have to work very hard indeed to disappoint me."
posted by googly at 7:50 AM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
tvtropes suggests "stealth insult" and "with due respect" per DeepSeaHaggis' excellent suggestion.
posted by adekllny at 7:58 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by adekllny at 7:58 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Loving these all, but haven't seen my particular quote yet so keep them coming!
posted by mpark at 8:50 AM on January 13, 2022
posted by mpark at 8:50 AM on January 13, 2022
There's an exchange in Mad Men that goes:
Ginsberg: "I feel bad for you"
Don Draper: "I don't think about you at all"
posted by thebots at 9:10 AM on January 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
Ginsberg: "I feel bad for you"
Don Draper: "I don't think about you at all"
posted by thebots at 9:10 AM on January 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
"I don't think of you at all" could fall into the trope "But for me it was Tuesday"
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 11:11 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 11:11 AM on January 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
The form of the joke (backhanded reassurance) is as old as the hills. It sounds like something from M*A*S*H or even a Marx Brothers film, although I cannot think of a single concrete instance.
posted by AndrewStephens at 11:15 AM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by AndrewStephens at 11:15 AM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Obviously I can't find it despite half an hour of googling, but there is a Dilbert cartoon where he says to Catbert, Evil Director of HR, "I worry that being assigned to work on legacy systems will make me appear less valuable in the future", to which Catbert responds with "You have my word that you could never appear more valuable than you do now".
Also, from God knows where, but in the same vein I remember enjoying hearing someone say "I couldn't respect you any more than I already do"
posted by underclocked at 12:11 PM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, from God knows where, but in the same vein I remember enjoying hearing someone say "I couldn't respect you any more than I already do"
posted by underclocked at 12:11 PM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Not what the OP is looking for, but in the same vein: Sammy Davis, Jr. to Archie Bunker.
Paraphrasing, "So many people think that they're better than others, but you, sir, you're not better than anybody."
Archie responds, "Why, thank you very much."
posted by yclipse at 2:14 PM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Paraphrasing, "So many people think that they're better than others, but you, sir, you're not better than anybody."
Archie responds, "Why, thank you very much."
posted by yclipse at 2:14 PM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
From Outlander, apparently:
Bonnet: I hope you don’t think any less of me
Brianna: I couldn’t think any less of you
posted by QuakerMel at 5:38 PM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Bonnet: I hope you don’t think any less of me
Brianna: I couldn’t think any less of you
posted by QuakerMel at 5:38 PM on January 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
This classic, from David Gauke (ex conservative MP, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, foe of Boris Johnson), is the epitome of the style.
posted by lalochezia at 5:08 AM on January 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by lalochezia at 5:08 AM on January 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jamjam at 11:52 PM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]