The use of praise upgrades in compliment sequences in natural conversations between young adults in dating relationships

Research on the speech acts of compliments (Cs) and compliment responses (CRs) has attracted a wide variety of research attention over the last several decades. Cs and CRs index an array of relational dimensions that govern sociocultural expressions of rapport and solidarity. Their importance has been well documented in intra- and intercultural communication pragmatics research across different languages. This study used a discourse analytic approach to examine one type of rare and often underutilized CR strategy, the praise upgrade, and its surprisingly frequent use as a CR response across a corpus of casual conversations between US English speaking young adults in a serious dating relationship. The analyses demonstrate that praise upgrades were often exaggerated and playful responses that re-position the compliment as somewhat absurd and thus not entirely serious. Ironic or playful CR upgrades to Cs worked to dilute the C itself while also attending to the subject-side risks of both the one formulating the C and the one receiving it. Three types of praise upgrades were identified: 1) praise upgrades that playfully rendered the compliment as absurd; 2) praise upgrades with tongue-in-cheek self-praise or boasts; 3) praise upgrades that redefined the compliment on the recipient's terms.