| 词组 | fair to middling |
| 释义 | Idiom fair to middling Theme: SATISFACTORY only fair or okay; a little better than acceptable. (Folksy.)I don't feel sick, just fair to middling.The play wasn't really good. It was just fair to middling. Idiom fair to middling informal neither very good nor very bad.'What's your French like?' 'Oh, fair to middling.' fair to middling adjective average, especially in reply to an inquiry about your health or situation UK, 1889fair to middlingNeither good nor bad; mediocre; lukewarm. Despite reviews that were fair to middling, the film was a huge box-office success. A: "How was your time in France?" B: "Eh, fair to middling. I expected it to be a lot better, to be honest." fair to middlin'Rur. mediocre; not bad but not good. (Middling means 'of average quality.') Tom: How are you feeling today? Bill: Fair to middlin'. My sewing is excellent, but my cooking is only fair to middlin'. fair to middlingMediocre, pretty good, so-so, as in I asked them how they liked their new home and John answered, "Fair to middling. This phrase, often a reply to an inquiry about one's health, business, or the like, is redundant, since fair and middling both mean "moderately good." [Mid-1800s] Also see can't complain. fair to middlingSo-so, moderately good, a reply to “How are you?” Since “fair” and “middling” here mean the same thing—that is, pretty good or mediocre—the expression is basically jocular. It originated in the mid-nineteenth century, probably in America. An early citation in the OED is from Artemus Ward’s His Travels (“The men are fair to middling,” 1865). See also can't complain. |
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