I got street harassed in Amsterdam yesterday and it made me think about what the typical Dutch response would be. I came up with "Your compliments are not very good."

To me it's the "very" in "Your compliments are not very good" that makes it so devastatingly Dutch. Like, "Your compliments are not good" could be seen as just trying to be mean, while the "not *very* good" makes it clear that you are offering someone genuine criticism and trying to soften it slightly to make it easier for them to take.

I'm kicking myself that I experimented with so many responses to street harassment in San Francisco and it never occurred to me to just straight out criticize them.

It's like the Dutch response to bullshit NIMBY complaints about the new bus line in my neighborhood: they take the complaint at face value, do the research, and conclude that it is not valid. Your complaints are not very good.

@vaurora the last phrase says "complaints", but you use "compliments" in the rest of the thread. I'm puzzled, are those typos?

Hint: not native English nor Dutch speaker.

@mdione yeah, I'm talking about two different activities: when people don't want a bus in their neighborhood, they complain. When street harassers are harassing, about half the time it is framed as a "compliment" like "pretty lady"

@vaurora In Amsterdam, I think a likely reply is, in that typical Amsterdam condescending/taunting tone: “Kan je niks beters verzinnen?”

@ArtHarg nah, street harassers live for confrontation. Well-intentioned pity is far more wounding

@vaurora sorry you have to deal with this.

@jmorris oh it almost never happens here! A lot fewer angry people on the street than in San Francisco. But thank you