No Offense Mom, But...

Elijah is a funny cat.  The way he talks is sometimes different, but so so cute.  

The other day Elijah used his serious tone to say, "No offense Mom, but do you think you're skinny?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to this.  In normal English usage, the phrase "no offense" sets you up to hear some bad news.  So was Elijah trying to tell me that I was actually fat, no matter what I thought?  And then there's the "do YOU THINK you're skinny?" part.  Was he trying to say that I obviously think I'm skinny but I'm clearly not, and he's here to set me straight?

I decided to ask him to rephrase.  "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you, like, do you think you're skinny?"

So he wasn't trying to be offensive, probably.  Still, I was cautious and feeling somewhat defensive.  "Umm, yes.  I think I'm pretty skinny.  I could be skinnier.  I mean, I'm not fat.  Right?"

Now Elijah's tone was brighter.  "Yeah.  I think it's pretty cool that you can be like that.  You know..."

I knew what he meant.  "Because a lot of people my age aren't?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah.  I'm kind of a little person."

He was happy, it seemed, that he was able to give me this compliment.  Which was cute.  But I was just relieved that I wasn't being insulted.  Ha!