Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. Jeff told me that the diet I was trying was showing results, and he asked how much more weight I had to lose. He was really telling me that I’m still too fat. He was damning me with faint praise.
2. Alicia told me that she was never able to make her old shoes last more than a few years the way I could. She was really trying to point out that my shoes were old and that hers are not. She damned me with faint praise.

Compare to: backhanded compliment. In this idiom the word ‘faint’ means weak or feeble.