Compliment... or not?

[Gurthang]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

I think it was both at once.

Sort of "If the shoe fits" principle.

That's about the same as what I was thinking. Although it is a compliment to the 'less than half' that Bilbo feels he should like better, it seems to be somewhat of a slam to the non-'less than half' hobbits. Those hobbits are ones that Bilbo feels he shouldn't have to like more or who he likes more than what they deserve. So it is certainly not a compliment to them.

And seeing how the anti-compliment is directed towards more hobbits(more than half, at least), I'd say that it was almost meant to be more of a demeanor than compliment.