The movie was not half as bad..

I went to see Rockstar with very low expectations but the movie was not half as bad.

Improving one’s English communication skills is not half as difficult as it seems. With proper guidance, support and motivation, one can become possess excellent English communication skills in little time.

“Not half as bad” – this phrase basically expresses surprise, a pleasant one at that. It’s like you expected something to be very bad but later, when you experienced it, you found it was not so bad. It was worse in expectation and better in reality. Let’s take a look at some examples:

1. The egg curry was not half as bad as I expected. Infact, you cook pretty well. I don’t know why everyone has such bad stories about your cooking.
2. I must say I came here with very little expectations. I was made to believe that this is a horrible place to live in with no electricity, no modern facilities and unfriendly people. My experience however has not been half as bad. In fact, I found very good people here and I wouldn’t mind spending longer here.
3. I went to see Raaz 3 after a lot of persuasion but luckily, the movie was not half as bad as I expected it to be.

Thus, not half as bad is best used when something exceeds expectations but those expectations were of a bad experience initially.

I had heard a lot of horrible stories about Colonel Ranjit’s temper and I almost didn’t want to meet him. However, I found him not half as bad. He is a bit crazy indeed and he can be abrupt and curt at times but he is a reasonable man. He expects others to be as diligent as he himself is but understandably, not everyone can match up to his high standards.

Take one more example:

This was my second Leh trip but the road from Manali to Leh was not half as bad. The potholes were filled, the roads were dry and there were residential tents with electricity at regular intervals along the route.