[NT] "Wow, you're smart"

[suttree]

How do you react when someone says this to you?

It doesn't feel like a compliment to me unless I just did something I think is clever.

A shrug and an "apparently so" is my usual response before changing the subject.

 

[Mitzy]

its never a compliment for me
people see me and assume i'm a ditz right off the bat
i dont blame em, i can see their reasoning but its a blow to the ego

 

[Salt n' pepper]

I'm more like "really, what did I do?"
And unless someone can explain to me, why and how I was just smart, they might as well have said "pass the salt" to me.
Unless it's said by someone I value or view as highly intelligent. Then I'm on cloud nine the whole day.

 

[FDG]

Depends on how smart I think the other person is. If I think he-she's very clever, then it'll surely feel as a compliment.

 

[Moiety]

"Wow, you're smart" would sound like an insult. "Wow"?! As in, I don't seem smart and it caused this much surprise??

 

[Mr. Sherlock Holmes]

I'm like "Okay."

 

[LunarMoon]

I thank them and move on with whatever we were doing.

 

[suttree]

Last night I was doing homework at a bar and a tipsy undergrad said it in an attempt to flirt. Reflecting on it, I'm surprised how big a turnoff it was.

 

[guesswho]

In the end it depends on who says it.

 

[Xander]

How do you react when someone says this to you?

It doesn't feel like a compliment to me unless I just did something I think is clever.

A shrug and an "apparently so" is my usual response before changing the subject.

Of course it's not a compliment. The word is "astute" god damn it!!!!

 

[Qlip]

Depends on who says it. Once in a while I'll hear it from a colleague about my work, who understands my work, and I'll take it as a compliment. But I hear equally as often from people who mean, "Wow, I didn't understand all those words you were using or whate you were even talking about."

 

[fill]

In the end it depends on who says it.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

I see it as a little insulting, not that I even care much.

However, if It's someone I respect and I myself consider intelligent, it's a compliment. and Thank yous are in order!

 

[Oaky]

Sarcasm will play it's role.

 

[Donna Cecilia]

Sarcasm will play it's role.

I agree. When a friend or close relative of mine says it, I take it as such. (Even when I'm speaking nonsense, I know that I'm right about it)

If it comes from someone I know for the first time, I take it as a compliment.

 

[Coriolis]

I haven't heard that one much since school. People who are smart themselves and want to offer a compliment usually say something more specific ("you know alot about X"; or "I'm impressed how well you solved Y problem"). "Wow, you're smart" is usually spoken by people who aren't "smart" enough to respond more meaningfully to whatever was said or done, and often bespeaks a misplaced sense of awe, or even an attempt at empty flattery.

 

[Randomnity]

A shrug and an "apparently so" is my usual response before changing the subject.

Do you have that response when someone tells you you're pretty/handsome, too? I can't imagine that coming off as anything but arrogant, unless you're clearly joking (and even then...).

Not that I really know what to say either. Something like a smile or "nah, I just study hard" which is not really true but seems polite. I take it as a sign that I seem like I'm bragging and need to tone it down. It makes me uncomfortable because it's almost always from more "working class" people who see a university degree in science as a big deal. So I feel a need to downplay the gap between us.

 

[Redbone]

Depends on who says it.

I've been told that and it clearly meant, "wow, you're smart for a ____________"

Not cool.

 

[Tamske]

Depends. Sometimes I get the feeling they are trying to say "I'm dumb. Please don't teach me too much of that math." Or "I'm dumb. Please convince me that this isn't the case."
I don't really like it in general. I'm not proud on my intelligence. Please compliment me on something I think is difficult - like (I'm now trying to do it. Argh.) succesfully mending a tear in a coat! But probably you'd think that's easy as pie and wonder why I would be proud about that...

 

[IZthe411]

In the end it depends on who says it.

This right here.