ECSTRA/Compliments

Typical situations and forms to be focussed on:

1. things that people can make compliments on in a nation, e.g.

1.1. clothes

1.2. looks

1.3. possessions

1.4. intellectual abilities

1.5. physical abilities

1.6. intellectual achievements

1.7. physical achievements

1.8. language competence

1.9. the meal one was invited to

other things

2. ways of reacting to a compliment, e.g.

2.1. pure thanking ("Thank you")

2.2. agreeing ("Yes, I also think it's good")

2.3. (thanking and) expressing gladness ("I'm glad you like it")

2.4. (thanking and) returning the compliment ("You look nice, too")

2.5. (thanking and) offering (materialistic) object of compliment ("You can borrow it if you like")

2.6. (thanking and) encouraging ("I'm sure you can achieve this as well")

2.7. (thanking and) explaining ("My mom gave it to me")

2.8. (thanking and) doubting ("You really think so?")

2.9. rejecting and denigrating ("Oh no, that's nothing")

2.10. thanking and denigrating ("Thank you, but that's nothing")

2.11. expressing embarassment ("Oh no, you embarass me")

other forms

3. things that people don't, or are forbidden to, compliment on, e.g.

3.1. clothes

3.2. looks

3.3. possessions

3.4. intellectual abilities

3.5. physical abilities

3.6. intellectual achievements

3.7. physical achievements

3.8. language competence

3.9. the meal one was invited to

3.10. the host's wife's appearance

other things

On this question, cf. Taboo (ECSTRA).

(Please remember our guidelines.)

AT: Austria

Vienna, Lower Austria (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 2, rarely 4, 6 (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: often: 11, 10, 4, 7, 8; sometimes 1, 3, 5 (ECSTRA-Q)

informand without indication of her home region (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, and especially 9, also 2
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, also 6 and (among elderly people) 9

BE: Belgium

Brussels (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 2, 8, 9, also 3, 4, 5
• 2.: 1, 3, 4

CH: Switzerland

Lausanne (French-speaking area) (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1-9
• 2.: 1, 4, 6, 9, 10

CZ: Czech Republic

Bohemia (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 6, 9
• 2.: 1, 4

DE: Germany

Bremen

• 1.: 1-9 (ECSTRA-Q, PO)
• 2.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (ECSTRA-Q)

south

• 1.: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 5, 6, 7, with respects to children also 4 (ECSTRA-Q, PO)
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, (6), 7, 8, (9) (ECSTRA-Q, PO)

Saxony (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1-9
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

DK: Denmark

...

EE: Estonia

...

ES: Spain

Andalucía (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11

Castilia y León (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1-9
• 2.: 3 (all ages), 4 (women), 5 (teenage friends), 7 (women), 10 (old women)

FI: Finnland

Finnish-speaking area (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1-9
• 2.: 1, 2, 3 (for presents), 4 (rare), 5 (very rare), 6 (rare), 7-10 (common)

Swedish-speaking area (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1 (especially to women), 6, 7, 9, haircut
• 2.: very common: 1; common: 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10; sometimes: 11; not so usual: 3; very unusual: 5, 6

FR: France

Aix-en-Provence (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
• 2.: 1 (frequent), 3 (frequent), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Indre et Loire (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: basically for everything, esp. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
• 2.: 1-7

Montargis (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1 (very frequent), 2 (very frequent), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (very frequent), 9 (very frequent)
• 2.: 1 (very frequent), 3, 4 (very frequent), 6, 7, 8 (very frequent), 9, 10, 11

Fontainbleau (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 2, 8, 9 (very frequent)
• 2.: 3 (very frequent), 4 (very frequent), 6, 7, 9, 10

Paris (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: everything, maybe except for possessions and maybe intellectual abilities
• 2.: 1-11, broad range of individual variation, but 1, 3, 4, 8 seem especially prominent

HR: Croatia

...

HU: Hungary

• 1.: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, home (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1, 3 (with equipment, food), 4, 7, 9 (with achievements, linguistic competence) (ECSTRA-Q)

IE: Ireland

Dublin (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1-9
• 2.: 1, 6, 8, "This old thing!"

IT: Italy

Lombardy (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 3, 4, money, cars, raise of salary
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 5, (6), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Friuli Venezia-Giulia (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1 (frequent), 2, 5, 6, 7, 9
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 2 (i.e. "Yes, you're right")

LT: Lithuania

• 2.: 1, 2 (in certain situations), 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (ECSTRA-Q)

LU: Luxemburg

• 1.: practically everything can be made compliments on, esp. clothes and looks, possessions (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1, 3 (very frequent), 4, 5 (rare), 6, 7 (very frequent), 8, 9, 10, 11 (ECSTRA-Q)

LV: Latvia

...

MT: Malta

• 1.: 1, 2, passed exam, job, birth of a child (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1 (very frequent), 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (ECSTRA-Q)

NL: Netherlands

...

NO: Norway

...

PL: Poland

• 1.: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, children and their talents/achievements, grandchildren (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11 (ECSTRA-Q)

PT: Portugal

Alentejo (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 2, 3, 4, (5, 6, 7, 8), 9, success
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

SE: Sweden

• 1.: 1-9 (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1 (very frequent), 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (ECSTRA-Q)

SI: Slovenia

...

SK: Slovakia

...

UK: United Kingdom

Cambridgeshire, England (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 2, 4, talents, personal qualities
• 2.: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11

Scotland (ECSTRA-Q)

• 1.: 1, 2, 4-5 (ok with respect to children, less common with respect to adults), 6, 7, 9, success of any kind
• 2.: a Glasgow informand writes 2-11 (i.e. excl. 1), another Scottish informand writes that 1 is the most common, 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 are common, 5 quite common, and 2 and 6 very rare.

Non-European Nations

Australia

• 1.: 1-9 (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1-11 (ECSTRA-Q)

Colombia

• 1.: 1, 2, 9, 6, professional achievements, well done job (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1, 3 (when replying to a compliment about clothes, a meal, a piece of artistic work), 4 (when replying to a compliment about clothes or appearance), 5 (sometimes when replying to a compliment about possessions), 7, 8, 9 and 10 (when you are happy to have helped somebody); 2, 6, 11 not so usual (ECSTRA-Q)

Greece

• 1.: intelligence, looks, knowledge on various topics, professional achievements, being a good cook or housekeeper (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (frequent), 10, sometimes 2 and 11 (ECSTRA-Q)

Lebanon

• 1.: 1-9 (ECSTRA-Q)
• 2.: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (ECSTRA-Q)