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The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2010-04-15 08:54:09 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
English to English translations [Non-PRO] Slang
English term or phrase:Blimey! These mermaids ain't half beautiful!
Hi all. This is meant to be a British sounding dialogue, written by an American author.
In you opinion it means that:
1) The mermaids are beautiful
2) The mermaids aren't beautiful
(With this sort of characterizations, you never know...)
US writers seem to think that adding the odd 'blimey' and 'ain't' automatically makes things sound British; personally, I think both are a little passé now — one might almost think that 'innit' would be more current. And as for the incongruity of style, with 'mermaids' and 'beautiful' — yes, very much makes me think of DvD and that otherwise wonderful movie of my formative years.
did anyone else think of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins?! (I mean, it sounds a rather contrived and unrealistic sentence.) But it definitely means the speaker finds the mermaids very beautiful.
Another expression that functions the same way is "not to shabby": 1. mod. nice; well done. Is that your car? Not too shabby! http://www.answers.com/topic/not-bad - but the expressions "not too bad" and "not half bad" do not function as superlatives. They mean "so-so" or "OK". Example from the same site: The movie wasn't half bad, but Jerry wanted to go home. A really perplexing use of bad, common in U.S. jazz and "Black" English shows up as the 36th! exception in the http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bad list of variants of that adjective: 36.Slang. outstandingly excellent; first-rate: He's a bad man on drums, and the fans love him.
As BD has mentioned "wicked" can be used the same way (a wicked sense of humour for example). We just love to play with words!
When "it ain't half bad" and "she ain't half beautiful" have a similar meaning (i.e. both are positive), non-native speakers are bound to be confused. My apologies on behalf of my language :-)
BBC - Comedy - It Ain't Half Hot Mum
"My saviour," says Windsor Davies today, in reference to the sitcom which made him a star. "It saved me from being a great actor!"
www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/itainthalfhotmum/index.shtml -
Don't even attempt logical analysis! "Not half" (more convincingly pronounced "not 'arf") is a way of expressing emphatic endorsement or agreement while also implying shared understandings, friendliness ... For the use of "bad" to mean its opposite, think "wicked".
Just wanted to let you know that you're not alone! My first thought was "ain't half bad" too, and that since "beautiful" is used here, it must mean the opposite... But I'll have to bow to the understanding of the natives here, to avoid being accused of meddling where I shouldn't!! ;-) Also, I'll bow to the fact that I'm yet to see an ugly mermaid in any movie, so they probably WERE beautiful :-)
based on the link below "ain't half beautiful" means not that the mermaids do not arrive at being even half beautiful but rather that they are not half way beautiful but all the way beautiful. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_it_ain't_half_mean
Yes, it does sound similar to "ain't half bad" except the ends are reversed. My thought process: We start at 'good' and move toward 'bad,' but we stop before we cover half the way. So, we end up closer to 'good' than 'bad.' Now, apply the same logic to 'beautiful' and 'ugly,' and you'll end up closer to 'ugly.'
Am I going wrong somewhere? Thanks for your feedback!
My British grandmother taught me a little rhyme that imitates a cockney accent that began "it ain't the 'eavy 'aulin' that 'urts the 'orses 'ooves..." so I suppose the ain't fits.
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +13