It looks like many of you enjoy playing with exotic insults!
A quick note: insults are not always a single word (…though, admittedly, one sharp word often lands harder than an uppercut).
Some of the finest barbs in history are entire phrases, elegant in their cruelty.
So let us broaden the contest with a few gems you may try to outmatch.
Once again, I draw freely from the works of the Great Bard:
“Thine face is not worth sunburning.”
Henry V, Act 5, Scene 2
A ruthless way of saying that someone’s face is not worth the sunlight.
“I do desire we may be better strangers.”
As You Like It, Act 3, Scene 2
In plain words: “Please forget I exist.”
“Thou art as fat as butter.”
Henry IV, Part 1, Act 2, Scene 4
Falstaff takes a blow — less fat-shaming than pure ridicule.
“More of your conversation would infect my brain.”
The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act 2, Scene 1
The perfect line for someone whose words you simply cannot endure.