This paper seeks to identity the canonic pattern of behavior of Rio de Janeiro s native speakers and their reactions when receiving compliments in ordinary day-to-day situations. Responses to compliment can be considered complex speech acts, with norms which are dependent on cultural factors. Based on that, the author considers that these situations embody a strong potential for misunderstandings and embarrassment for non-native speakers, when they fail to adapt their own cultural background to the natives standards during interactions. This research proposes to collaborate with the Portuguese as a Second Language field of study by advancing in the understanding of Rio de Janeiro s politeness norms, which are the basis for the ideal behavioral pattern of native speakers. The theoretic fundaments rest in Pragmatics and Cultural Anthropology concepts. The data analysis is based on information gathered from a questionnaire, which presented some hypothesis of responses to compliments in ordinary situations and in which the repliers chose the most and the least appropriate reactions for each situation. Seeking to confirm the pattern that was drawn from the responses, on a second phase, the study sought to compare some of the data collected to the speech patterns used in real-life situations, through the use of pre-recorded responses to compliments in spontaneous situations. The results showed that, for different subjects and situational contexts, the ideal behavior to native speakers is the acceptance of the compliments, rather than its rebuttal.