差强人意

Pronunciation: chā qiáng rén yì Literal meaning: Somewhat rouses one's spirits

Origin & Usage

Emperor Guangwu, told that his general Wu Han was still ordering his troops while everyone else was dispirited, said 吴公差强人意 — Wu rather rouses one's spirits. 差 there means somewhat and 强 means to hearten, so the original is a compliment. The modern reading takes 差 as poor and produces the opposite sense, and the standard dictionaries still give the phrase as 大体上使人满意, broadly satisfactory. Learners should know that using it to mean 'barely acceptable' is common and is not what it says.

Examples

English: "The project's results were acceptable but not impressive"

Chinese: 项目的结果可以接受，但并不令人印象深刻