A compliment that’s secretly an insult is still an insult, just with better packaging.

Wrapping criticism in a compliment does not soften it, it just means the person has to spend the next hour working out whether they were insulted. The packaging is the part that stings, because it removes any way to respond. Object and you look oversensitive. Accept it and you have agreed with the insult. That trap is usually the intention, even when the person would deny it.

If you want to say the hard thing, say the hard thing directly and privately. If someone does it to you, you can simply ask what they meant and let the silence do its work.