#theendoffreetime

Ahh! 

...not a reptile, but that gave me a GREAT IDEA

It can be. It depends on the way you say it! For instance:

An older figure saying “bless your heart” to a small child is always interpreted as more of a “aww, look how cute!” Sometimes, when the child is doing something really, really silly- like ordering unsweet tea- it’s said with a note of amused pity, kind of like when you see a dog not understanding a wood floor. It can also be used to say “you’re an idiot, but I care about your feelings.” So like, at family Thanksgivings, if you don’t eat the cornbread and you tell your grandma it’s because you’re avoiding carbs, she might say “Well, bless your heart” and then take a double helping because everybody knows that the cornbread’s fucking amazing and you’re a fool not to eat it.

However, when said to somebody who’s higher up the social scale than you or your equal in age, status, etc.- then it tends to be a major insult. It can also be a response to an insult. So like, if you’re in Georgia and you say “Yeah, these peaches are ok, but back home in Grand Rapids, we have better peaches” and the peach farmer says “Oh, isn’t that nice, bless your heart-” well, then you should pay for your peaches with a 20, say “keep the change,” and then hightail it back to your car because you done fucked up, bless your heart.