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What does “not too bad” mean? Is it “not good, but I expected worse”? You see, I got my essay back, and it says “not too bad”. I am not a native speaker, so please help……

I am not a native speaker and I can totally understand this question. I gave it some thought and I came with three reasons for natives and non-natives, why I think it is really bad to use too bad…..

Not too bad is really, really bad

  1. From the day I arrived in the UK I challenged people who answered questions with the ‘Not too bad’ reply by asking: “What do you mean by that?” And it usually takes people time to find an answer to that question. To me it shows ‘NTB’ is a non-statement. It reflects a tentativeness, which means ‘I don’t want to share’ or ‘I don’t know’. What is the point of being unclear and creating confusion? Not only to your listener, but also to your subconsciousness.
  2. Psychological research has shown that the use of negative language impacts on our perception and outlook. When you use negative language, more stress chemicals are released. Not only in your brain, but in the listener’s brain as well. The listener will experience increased anxiety and irritability, thus undermining cooperation and trust.
  3. Whatever you say to the external world is also picked up by your subconsciousness. It only picks up words and doesn’t get the little nuances that you thought you were communicating. NTB has a 66% negativity in words and will be perceived as negative by your subconscious, feeding your system with negativity.

If you love to be vague and negative as well as feeding your subconscious with negativity, please do continue to use NTB. But if this article makes you aware why and how you are using NTB, maybe you can make a conscious decision next time on how to answer a question. If you want to be vague, there are positive alternatives. Like ‘It went okay, just waiting for the final outcome’. When someone asks you how you are, ‘Okay’, is as vague in a way but at least it doesn’t have the bad side-effects of NTB.

If you feel negative and stressed, your language might have a lot to do with it. Want to find out more, why not book a FREE Clarity Session?

Read what this woman reveals in her language…..

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