"Not Too Bad" means good?

Posted by ESC on May 27, 2004

In Reply to: "Not Too Bad" means good? posted by James Briggs on May 27, 2004

: : Hi,
: : I have a confusion with a phrase " Not too Bad" heavily used by my peer in the office. English is his second language as mine but he says that when he uses this it mean good. I have a different opinion I think this means he is nott that bad, but still BAD????

: : Can anyone please let me know what exatly it means when one says " I am not too bad!"

: : Thanks and Regards,
: : Khan

: to me, a native English speaker, it implies something marginally better than 'bad'; something that is 'reasonable', 'up to the job', but not much more than that - just about OK, or very slightly better.

It depends on how it is said. "Not too bad!" with a tone of admiration could mean "very good."

Khan 27/May/04
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