Someone once made a strong comment about DS's "intellegence" after knowing us pretty well, but never having had a chance to actually talk before...
In a fit of brilliance I replied "oh, of course! He's BRILLIANT, you know!" in exactly the same tone of voice she'd regularly heard me say "he's my FAVOURITE [hisname]" or "that's my FAVOURITE underinflated ball that just won't bounce!" and similarly accurate-to-the-point-of-meaningless things.
It totally worked. Not only did we never ever ever talk about his intellegence per se again, BUT we talked about our kids, even compairing them directly quite a bit without ever getting into a contest about it. Some of the best toddler-trouble-shooting I've ever had.
I've also found "oh, well that's just becasue he's brilliant" said in the correct tone of voice works wonders even with people who aren't used to my understatement habit.
Not exactly a code phrase, but a tension releaser in the vein of "ingenious type."
-Mich
