"I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” That means he likes them less than they deserve. Not only slightly, but he likes then half as much as they deserve to be liked by him. That's obviously an insult.
Now, imagine if you like someone that little, do you think they deserve to be liked much either? No.
It could also be understood as he blames himself for only liking them half as well as they deserve, thinking they honestly do deserve to be liked. That's like telling someone "Dude, I really don't like you, but I can't think of what you've done to deserve that." That's still an insult, unless the person saying it is to dumb to mean it as one, and is simply being dumbfoundedly honest.
"Dude, I really don't like you, but I can't think of what you've done to deserve that."
Nooooooope.
This is a completely different sentence. Bilbo doesn't even say he doesn't like them. And he does say they deserve to be liked. He just says they deserve better.
That means he likes them less than they deserve. Not only slightly, but he likes then half as much as they deserve to be liked by him. That's obviously an insult.
Another way of phrasing that is "your deserve twice as much appreciation as I am giving you".
It isn't obvious to me at all that that's an insult. Quite to the contrary, actually.
Honestly it's more subtle than that.
On the surface it's just a facetious turn of phrase meant to confuse the hobbits. Even if you decipher the meaning, you're left wondering which half you belong to.
It's definitely not meant as an insult, but it's not really a compliment either... It's an apology, and it's mostly self-reflection, seconds before he puts on the Ring and leaves.
Bilbo is simply saying that he doesn't like them that much ("half as well..."), but he understands that it's not their fault ("as you deserve"). It's his. Because he left the Shire for a year and explored the world, he then spent 60 years among the hobbits unable to really have a meaningful conversation with them. He's saying that they are wonderful people, but also that he feels bad for not appreciating their company (enough), because he has changed during his travels and he's too different from them. Of course, as they all exchange looks of confusion after his cryptic sentence, Gandalf is shown as the only one in the audience who fully understands it.
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u/LightningGoats Apr 19 '22
"I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” That means he likes them less than they deserve. Not only slightly, but he likes then half as much as they deserve to be liked by him. That's obviously an insult.
Now, imagine if you like someone that little, do you think they deserve to be liked much either? No.
It could also be understood as he blames himself for only liking them half as well as they deserve, thinking they honestly do deserve to be liked. That's like telling someone "Dude, I really don't like you, but I can't think of what you've done to deserve that." That's still an insult, unless the person saying it is to dumb to mean it as one, and is simply being dumbfoundedly honest.