'Damn with faint praise' To condemn someone or something indirectly, by omission or innuendo, in words which are complimentary but in such weak or narrow terms that the effect is that the speaker thinks ill and can find only a little that is good leaving the rest of his thoughts unsaid. A device beloved of bitches e.g 'What do you think of Mary's outfit?' Answer 'The hat is lovely' ( suggesting that the rest, and greater part, of it is not )