[Ditter]

In the south the phrase “well bless your heart” can go either way. It is up to the recipient to decide how to react. You can accept it as a blessing and walk away, or an insult and make an azz out of yourself.

[needmorePaine]

You can accept it as a blessing and walk away, or an insult and make an azz out of yourself.
Oh please, it's purely passive aggressive. It's a backhanded phrase, somewhat similar to prefacing an insult by saying "I don't mean any disrespect but..." followed by disrespect.