Not Too Shabby | WordReference Forums

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. not too shabby

• Thread starter Thread starter Malca
• Start date Start date Apr 20, 2009

M

Malca

Senior Member

Buenos Aires español Un hombre le dice a una mujer acerca del plato que ambos están cocinando Not too shabby. Y ella dice , look he's not just a pretty face.... No se a que se referira... ¿querrá decir No está tan mal?

unspecified

Senior Member

Boston, MA, USA English, USA Efectivamente. "Not too shabby" = "No está tan mal." Saludos! H

Hugo16

Senior Member

Spain Spanish Hello Imagine this sentence: The song is good Now, what I'd like to now is whether these next sentences are synonyms or not. - The song is not too shabby - The song is shabby at all. My main doubt is about the possibility of using "at all" here. Thank you Last edited by a moderator: Sep 15, 2013 J

JennyTW

Senior Member

Córdoba, Spain English - UK We only use "at all" (en absoluto) )with a negative construction - the song isn't very good at all. And I wouldn't use "shabby" to describe a song. Normally it's used to describe old, worn clothes etc.

Chasint

Senior Member

English - England (a) They aren't precise synonyms of "The song is good" if that is what you are asking. The song is not too shabby. This can mean "The song is quite good" or "The song is very good". The precise meaning depends on a lot of factors. (b) You must use "at all" with a negative. You should say "The song is not shabby at all." (c) This use of 'shabby' is ironic. We need more context to know what the speaker/writer means. Do you have more of the text? Do you have a link to the text? (cross-posted) H

Hugo16

Senior Member

Spain Spanish This is the text a took the example from: Sega's Streets of Rage 2 has some of the best video game BGM we've ever heard. The actual game isn't too shabby, either.

Chasint

Senior Member

English - England

Hugo16 said: This is the text a took the example from: Sega's Streets of Rage 2 has some of the best video game BGM we've ever heard. The actual game isn't too shabby, either. Click to expand...

Yes, it means "The game isn't bad" Note that the idiom is always in the negative "not too shabby" not so shabby/not too shabby used for saying that something is good: It was a not so shabby week for the team who had three wins. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/not-so-shabby-not-too-shabby EDIT The phrase is slang. It's not used in formal writing. Last edited by a moderator: Sep 15, 2013

aztlaniano

Senior Member

Lavapiestán, Madrid English (Aztlán, US sector) The song is shabby. It's bad. The song is not too shabby. It's good. The song is not shabby at all. It's good, maybe even very good. The song is not too good. It's bad. The song is not very good. It's bad. Como ya se ha comentado, no se puede poner "at all" después de una afirmación.

JennyTW said: "shabby" to describe a song. Normally it's used to describe old, worn clothes etc. Click to expand...

Technically it should be used to describe old, worn things, but in Murrican "not too shabby" is a common expression of approval (like "wicked" in British?). Last edited: Sep 15, 2013

Chasint

Senior Member

English - England

aztlaniano said: ... Technically it should be used to describe old, worn things, but in Murrican "nnot too shabby" is a common expression of approval (like "wicked" in British?). Click to expand...

It's familiar to me and I'm a Brit. Quite ordinary slang over here as far as I'm concerned. BE: Google ngram "not too shabby" http://books.google.com/ngrams/grap...00&year_end=2000&corpus=18&smoothing=3&share= AE: Google ngram "not too shabby" http://books.google.com/ngrams/grap...00&year_end=2000&corpus=17&smoothing=3&share= Although the two graphs have a similar shape, the AE usage is higher by a factor of about four. You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

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