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Sat 3 Aug, 2013 10:55 pm
Say, you've done your homework and turned it in
and your teacher rates it,
"Umm. Not bad."
Does that belong to a complement and I need to be glad for that?
When tranlsated in Korean, it seems like neither a complement nor a harsh criticism.
Probably around the middle - not that good, not that bad.
My guess is that 'not bad' is just like 'so so'.
How should I react when I'm told about something I did, 'Not bad'.
Should I say 'Thank you.' or 'Okay. I'll try harder' or something like that?
What exactly would it be - Not bad ?
@SMickey,
SMickey wrote:
Say, you've done your homework and turned it in
and your teacher rates it,
"Umm. Not bad."
Does that belong to a complement and I need to be glad for that?
Was the teacher's tone friendly or was it dismissive? Everything depends on the tone of voice.
@SMickey,
SMickey wrote:What exactly would it be - Not bad ?
It is usually a moderate complement - not as strong as a more explicit complement, but better than the middle.
@oralloy,
oralloy wrote:SMickey wrote:What exactly would it be - Not bad ?
It is usually a moderate complement - not as strong as a more explicit complement, but better than the middle.
In addition, it is often used when someone is pleased with your progress.
However, Kolyo was right that tone is important. The subtext of that "ummm" might modify the meaning.
@SMickey,
Mick, "not bad" is collo for pretty good
I'd agree with Dale here. Usually it means pretty good, tho tone can either intensify it or downplay it a bit. Also, it's a "compliment", not a "complement", as several people have called it. The two words mean entirely different things.
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