pay a compliment

You use the verb pay followed by the noun compliment. You can pay someone a compliment directly. For example, 'I wanted to pay you a compliment on your speech.' You can also use it to describe an action that happened. 'He paid me a compliment about my new car.' It’s a smooth, elegant way to talk about praising someone.

Use it when you want to be polite and warm. It works perfectly at a dinner party when you love the food. Use it at work when a colleague crushes a presentation. It’s great for first dates to break the ice. Even texting a friend to say their new profile picture looks great counts. It’s a social lubricant that makes everything easier.

Don't use it if the praise feels fake or forced. If you overdo it, you might seem like a 'suck-up.' Avoid it in very high-stress, emergency situations where people need instructions, not praise. Also, don't confuse it with complement (with an 'e'), which means two things going well together. Nobody wants to be 'paid a math angle.'

In English-speaking cultures, paying a compliment is a standard social ritual. It’s often used as a 'conversation starter' with strangers. In the US and UK, it’s very common to compliment someone's clothes or hair to be friendly. It shows you are observant and kind. Historically, 'paying' implied that the compliment had value, like a coin.

You might hear people say return the compliment. This means someone praised you, so you praised them back. Another one is take a compliment. This is what you do when someone praises you. If you get shy and say 'Oh, it's nothing,' a friend might say, 'Just take the compliment!' It’s all about the exchange of good vibes.