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A comment on The Architecture of "Not Bad": Decoding the Chinese Source Code of the Void.

Re:The Architecture of "Not Bad": Decoding the Chinese Sourc... by mylesp on Thursday December 11, 2025 @06:02PM (#46238555)
In Australia from my experience "not bad" = "good", "pretty good" = "amazing", "bit shit" = "really shit".

I don't think its as much that everything positive is just a non-negative, but that everything (especially emotions) is shifted towards the medium. Maybe it comes from a desire to not be abrasive and always soften everything, but I'm not sure.

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Re:The Architecture of "Not Bad": Decoding the Chinese Sourc... by PlunderBunny on Thursday December 11, 2025 @06:26PM (#46238804)
Related also to the way Australians and New Zealanders use understatement for humorous effect, e.g. that last example you gave could be used to describe any condition up-to the point of death.
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