Height of haughtiness

It's really amazing the lengths that people go to in order to make themselves feel better.  I heard some remarks made yesterday in a family setting that showed a high degree of haughtiness.  A sister and her husband were staying a couple of nights with another sister and her husband.  The husband of the sister who was a guest at her sister's house wanted to say something complimentary to his brother-in-law and sister-in-law who were hosting him.

"You have a nice, little house here.  It's got 4 bedrooms and a nice living area.  You don't have any formal rooms.  I like it; it's comfortable."

On the surface that sounds like a compliment.  Except that the brother-in-law is a man of means and the host brother-in-law is not.  "A nice, little house" emphasizes the word little and the word nice is used before it to mask or distract from true intent.   The words "not formal, and comfortable" were to signify that his house was better than a mere informal place to live.   The brother-in-law of means condescended to his host sister-in-law and brother-in-law merely to bolster his ego and to establish power in case he needed to rely on it.  It also was to have it out on the table in case there was a reverse area of inequality in status.  He wanted to warn the other couple not to go there since he had an area of inequality leveraged against them.  Not that the topic would arise - he just wanted to have said something in advance that indicated he could play that card.

It's really amazing the lengths people go to in order to make themselves feel better.