I hope you don’t mind me saying that you are looking very nice today. Ugh, no, sorry, start again.

I have been thinking a lot about compliments – why, how, good and bad ones – because of Barbara from Stroud, whose vox pop went viral when she was asked how to make someone’s day better. “If I see someone and I like their shoes, dress, hat, I say so,” she said. That this quite ordinary comment, albeit from a clearly delightful woman, got millions of views and compliments in return (including from former England goalie Mary Earps) suggests an understandable longing for nano acts of niceness.

Missing the point entirely (though maybe not, since I’m writing about it) is the marketing department at Marks & Spencer, which has just appointed Gillian Anderson “chief compliments officer”. Her job description? “To spread joy and positivity, and to compliment M&S customers and employees.” What this piece of corporate whimsy means is suggested by a cursed mini-ad in which the actor, radiating powerful if professional “Will this do?” energy, compliments a........

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