If you doubt this, try adding “if you like that kind of thing” to any compliment and observe the effect. For example, “That is a pleasing blouse, if you like that kind of thing.” Or, “I thought your new story was lovely, if you like that kind of thing.”

It’s obviously true that only people whose taste inclines them to like a kind of thing will like an example of that thing. And yet try slipping awareness of that fact into conversation and you will soon find yourself an outcast.