Morwen-

In New York, all compliments are backhand!

It's one of the reasons a lot of us from that part of the world have a tough time tolerating (not really) Canadians, people from Seattle, etc. (They are stereotypically kind and direct.) And though they seem to appreciate _Seinfeld_, I always wondered if they were "getting" it the same way as me!

Now: the challenge is figuring out exactly where the insult (the "backhand" part) lies, along with whether or not the person giving it intends to cause hurt or to show affection!