This is a very common French expression, but its meaning can be confusing for English speakers.
Why do I need to know pas terrible?
This expression is one of the more confusing ones you'll hear in France, and you'll hear it all the time.
So, what does it mean?
The full expression is ce n'est pas terrible - pronounced suh-nay-pah-teh-reeble. But as this is most commonly a spoken expression, it's frequently shortened to c'est pas terrible, or just pas terrible.
It literally means 'It's not terrible' - but unfortunately for English speakers the French word 'terrible' is a semi-false friend. It can mean terrible, but it also also mean good/great/terrific.
That means that if someone says, C'est terrible they can either mean 'it's terrible' or 'it's terrific'/'it's great'. Fortunately, context clues and tone of voice mean that it's generally pretty easy to figure out which one.
However, getting back to today's expression, when you put the negative pas before it, terrible is always translated into its more positive meanings of 'terrific' or 'great'.
So, that means pas terrible actually means 'not great' rather than 'not terrible' as you would be forgiven for thinking.
It's usually used as a way of being lukewarm about something - it wasn't completely awful but it certainly wasn't great and you probably wouldn't recommend it.
Use it like this:
Julien adore ce resto, mais à mon avis, ce n'est pas terrible. - Julien loves this restaurant, but I don't think it's that great.
Ce film est pas terrible alors je serais toi, je n'irais pas le voir. - The film's pretty average, I wouldn't go and see it if I were you.
Qu'est-ce que tu as pensé de ce livre ? - Pas terrible. - What did you think of that book? - Meh, nothing special.
