Comment by Telemakhos
3 days ago
Kids in the Pacific Northwest use litotes constantly, to the point of annoyance, and possibly more often than they use the straightforward positive. Everything is "not bad" or "not great" or, if really bad, "super not great." I've always taken it to be a kind of avoidance of confessing one's real feelings.
Best examples of litotes can be found in social media, Chinese or English or any language
My guess is that "bu chuo" _was_ a litotes (or originated as one) but the ironic component evaporated with familiarity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litotes#Chinese
The literal English translation still seems to be a litotes
"super not great" IS a real feeling :)
(fellow PNWer, I'd never before thought of this as a regional thing!)
Yeah this tracks - if someone says something is “not great” it’s probably extremely bad haha. or “super cool no problems here” (there’s tear gas streaming through the windows)
also, TIL the word "litotes" -- thank you, brother!
The verbal construction words you learn in Classics are excellent. Litotes, chiasmus, synecdoche...