Game in Hobbiton, or, Bilbo demonstrates the neg

Sometimes a brass tacks example can be helpful, especially for those who prefer the concrete over high-falutin abstractions. Backhanded or ambiguous compliments are a “tool” of charmers and rhetoricians which have been around since Hobbits tilled the soil of the Shire. Variations on the theme are as multifarious as the variety of human conversation. By creating some ambiguity … Continue reading Game in Hobbiton, or, Bilbo demonstrates the neg