I’ve never gotten it as an effective insult, tbh. It boils down to:
I wish I knew half of you better, and I’m a crab about some of you
No? If he doesn’t like them as well as they deserve, then the “problem” is with him, not them. It’s definitely not welcoming, but it’s not exactly insulting if I’m reading it right.
Book the dinner. Spill the tea. Crack the plates.
That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!
I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
This insult has the highest ratio of courtesy and eloquence to psychosocial damage in the history of insults.
I’ve never gotten it as an effective insult, tbh. It boils down to:
No? If he doesn’t like them as well as they deserve, then the “problem” is with him, not them. It’s definitely not welcoming, but it’s not exactly insulting if I’m reading it right.
Dig the stone, mine the ore, craft the metal!