so-so

See also: Appendix:Variations of "soso"

English

Etymology

From Middle English so so, from Old English swā swā, equivalent to so +‎ so. Compare Dutch zozo (“so-so”), German soso (“so-so”), Norwegian så som så (“so-so”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊˌsəʊ/, /ˌsəʊˈsəʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ, -əʊsəʊ

Adjective

so-so (not comparable)

1. (informal) Neither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.

   The dessert was pretty good, but the meal was so-so.

   • 1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare, Dublin: […] W. Whitestone, […], published 1776, →OCLC, page 5:

     [I]n ſome Iriſh Houſes, vvhere things are ſo-ſo, / One Gammon of Bacon hangs up for a ſhow; […]

   • 1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns:

     He [Robert Burns] certainly wrote some so-so verses to the Tree of Liberty.

Synonyms

• (neither good nor bad): average, comme ci comme ça, fair, meh, mediocre, middling, lackluster, okay

Translations

neither good nor bad

• Albanian: çka (sq)
• Arabic: بَيْنَ بَيْنَ (ar) (bayna bayna)

  Egyptian Arabic: مش بطال (miš baṭṭāl), نص نص (nuṣ nuṣ)

  South Levantine Arabic: مش بطال (miš baṭṭāl), نص نص (nuṣ nuṣ)

• Bulgarian: горе-долу (bg) (gore-dolu), долу-горе (dolu-gore), бива (bg) (biva)
• Catalan: així així (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 馬馬虎虎 / 马马虎虎 (zh) (mǎmǎhǔhǔ)

• Czech: všelijaký
• Dutch: zozo (nl)
• Esperanto: iele-trapele
• Estonian: nii ja naa, nii või naa
• Finnish: niin ja näin
• French: comme ci comme ça (fr), couci-couça (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: so lala (de)
• Greek: έτσι κι έτσι (el) (étsi ki étsi)
• Hebrew: ככה־ככה (he) f (kákha kákha)
• Icelandic: svona... (is), svona svona
• Indonesian: biasa saja
• Italian: così così
• Japanese: まあまあ (ja) (māmā)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: plus minus
• Louisiana Creole French: pokapok
• Macedonian: така-така (taka-taka)
• Norwegian: passe (no)
• Polish: tak sobie (pl), średnio (pl)
• Portuguese: mais ou menos (pt)
• Russian: та́к себе́ (ru) (ták sebé), сре́дненький (ru) (srédnenʹkij), ничего́ (ru) (ničevó)
• Scottish Gaelic: meadhanach
• Spanish: más o menos (es), así así, pasable (es), templado (es), ni fu ni fa (es)
• Swedish: sådär (sv)
• Welsh: felly felly

Adverb

so-so (not comparable)

1. (informal) Neither very well nor very poorly.

   He performed so-so during the tryouts, and the coach was undecided whether to add him to the team or not.

Synonyms

• (neither well nor poorly): blandly, indifferently, insipidly, moderately, passably

Translations

neither well nor poorly

• Arabic: نِصْف نِصْف (niṣf niṣf), (casual, dialectal) نُصّ نُصّ (nuṣṣ nuṣṣ)

  South Levantine Arabic: نص نص

• Azerbaijani: elə-belə
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 馬馬虎虎 / 马马虎虎 (zh) (mǎmǎhǔhǔ)

• Dutch: zozo (nl)
• Esperanto: iele-trapele
• Finnish: niin ja näin
• French: couci-couça (fr), comme ci comme ça (fr)
• German: soso, so la la, so lala (de)
• Hebrew: ככה ככה (he) (káxa káxa)
• Hungarian: szoszo
• Italian: così così
• Japanese: まあまあ (ja) (māmā)
• Korean: 그저 그래요 (geujeo geuraeyo), 그저 그렇게 (geujeo geureoke)
• Latin: plus minus
• Louisiana Creole French: pokapok
• Portuguese: mais ou menos (pt), assim, assim, assim assim, assim-assim (pt)
• Romanian: așa și așa
• Russian: ничего́ (ru) (ničevó), та́к себе́ (ru) (ták sebé)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: koliko-toliko (sh)

• Spanish: así así
• Swedish: sådär (sv)
• Thai: งั้น ๆ (th) (ngán-ngán), เรื่อย ๆ (rʉ̂ai-rʉ̂ai), เฉย ๆ (chə̌əi-chə̌əi)
• Vietnamese: tàm tạm (vi)
• Welsh: felly felly

Anagrams

• Osos, Soos