Why does 微妙 become "sucky" in slang usage?


Technically the word 微妙 means

> as per WWWJDIC:
>
> (adj-na,n) (1) delicate; subtle; sensitive; (2) difficult; delicate
> (situation); complicated; (3) doubtful; questionable; dicey;

However, last time I stayed in Tokyo ( about a year ago) most of my Japanese
friends (about 25-30 years old) were using 微妙 to mean "kinda sucky" or "boring
in an annoying way". I believe I remember a sentence like this:

> 海はどうだった？ まあちょっと微妙。
>
> How was the beach? Eh... it kinda sucked.

I also heard it used as an adverb with this meaning but I can't remember an
example. When I asked my friends about it, they said they don't really use
that word for positive things, though none of the numerous examples I saw on
ALC had this slangy type of meaning. I guess the meaning of subtle mixed with
dicey and then became "so either-or that it just sucks"? If anyone can explain
the subtleties of this slang usage, I've been wondering for a while.




`微妙{びみょう}` has been going through an evolution during the time I've been in
Japan. There was a time, maybe about a decade ago, when it seemed to be one of
those popular words that people would over use. Similar to how there was a fad
for a time, mostly with younger people, to add `超{ちょう}("ultra~")` to almost
everything for emphasis.

Being that slang is, by nature, fluid in its evolution and open to
interpretation, I think you'll see a lot of variety in daily use, and the
dictionaries, like ALC, might not be keeping up.

I don't think it means "kind of sucky," however. To me, "kind of sucky" is a
clear judgment that something is "sucky", with the only question being to what
degree, answered by appending "kind of." _(Though I'll admit we might just be
disagreeing on the definition of "sucky", which is itself slang, so I hope you
can go along with the spirit of what I'm trying to convey if not the literal
terms.)_

`微妙{びみょう}` retains its lack of certainty even when it tends to the negative.
So I would take your `「まあちょっと微妙{びみょう}」` to be just a little more vague.
Something like "Meh, the beach didn't really do it for me." In other words, it
wasn't that it was clearly bad, maybe there were some things that were okay,
and maybe other people liked it, but me, I was nonplussed.

Used in its adjectival form, on example that I hear often is
`「微妙{びみょう}に違{ちが}う」`, which means something like "[it's] kind of off
[somehow]". I think in this phrase, it's the `違{ちが}う` that's doing more of the
heavy lifting of conveying the negative than `微妙{びみょう}`.

Just for comparison, similar terms are `中途半端{ちゅうとはんぱ}`, which can go from
"half done" to "half assed", or `今一{いまいち}` which is literally "not quite" but
can mean "almost but not actually good".

Hope that helps.




`微妙{びみょう}` has been going through an evolution during the time I've been in
Japan. There was a time, maybe about a decade ago, when it seemed to be one of
those popular words that people would over use. Similar to how there was a fad
for a time, mostly with younger people, to add `超{ちょう}("ultra~")` to almost
everything for emphasis.

Being that slang is, by nature, fluid in its evolution and open to
interpretation, I think you'll see a lot of variety in daily use, and the
dictionaries, like ALC, might not be keeping up.

I don't think it means "kind of sucky," however. To me, "kind of sucky" is a
clear judgment that something is "sucky", with the only question being to what
degree, answered by appending "kind of." _(Though I'll admit we might just be
disagreeing on the definition of "sucky", which is itself slang, so I hope you
can go along with the spirit of what I'm trying to convey if not the literal
terms.)_

`微妙{びみょう}` retains its lack of certainty even when it tends to the negative.
So I would take your `「まあちょっと微妙{びみょう}」` to be just a little more vague.
Something like "Meh, the beach didn't really do it for me." In other words, it
wasn't that it was clearly bad, maybe there were some things that were okay,
and maybe other people liked it, but me, I was nonplussed.

Used in its adjectival form, on example that I hear often is
`「微妙{びみょう}に違{ちが}う」`, which means something like "[it's] kind of off
[somehow]". I think in this phrase, it's the `違{ちが}う` that's doing more of the
heavy lifting of conveying the negative than `微妙{びみょう}`.

Just for comparison, similar terms are `中途半端{ちゅうとはんぱ}`, which can go from
"half done" to "half assed", or `今一{いまいち}` which is literally "not quite" but
can mean "almost but not actually good".

Hope that helps.

