Outrageously Funny Word Dictionary :: Loveyou

👉 Okay, settle in, class, let’s tackle this rather… aggressively sentimental little mouthful: 

"Lovely, you."

. 1.

Now, traditionally when someone says "Lovely, you!" you might instinctively think of a giddy young woman fluttering about and declaring her undying affection for a boy who probably peaked in middle school in the early 2000's. That was… once upon a time, I guess? Historically, it started as a deliberately dismissive, almost mocking way to acknowledge someone, but with a hefty, dripping-with disdain emphasis on their stupidity . You weren’t saying they were pretty – you were basically labelling them an utter idiot and then, somehow, still feeling the need for a little bit of verbal savagery. 2. The actual phrasing comes from the early 1970s in the UK, really as part of a whole wave of this kind of sardonic, almost aggressively understated insult. You basically said it to point out someone’s glaring failure – and then you just let that fail hang there for effect. There's no niceness here—this is about a pointed, frankly rather unpleasant, dismissal. 3. Now, the shift in recent years? People have decided this little bit of biting wit is... cute . It's now often used as a kind of very weird, almost aggressively understated compliment, which, honestly, I find baffling. But there you