The architecture of “not bad”: Decoding the Chinese source code of the void

As a Brit, I'm not quite sure this article is right in it's declaration it's a universal "English" thing and not more "American English".

Yep, "not bad" is very very common here - definitely more so than "decent".

"How are you?" "Not too bad" always makes me smile. Such a British answer.

Yeah, same as a French speaker first living in the US, I have to sometimes refrain myself from calling things “just fine”, “will do” or “not bad”. These are still used in American English, but I tend to use them for cases were people normally use more positive/stronger version.

Like at a grocery store: “is that enough? That will do yes -> yes that’s perfect”

I would say Australian English relies on this negation even more than British English, to the point of being confusing without more cultural context.

I've had this discussion with American friends quite recently, it's very much an American English thing to not use those constructions. Certainly in British, New Zealand, and Australian English we do all the time.

Two countries divided by a common language . . .

Yeah nah... nah yeah, you're right.

"Can't complain"

I say and hear it all the time in the US...

Yeah, Kiwi English also, e.g. describing something as "not bad" rather than "good" is normal.

> How's things? > Not bad.