Not half

Welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Feifei.

And I ‘m Neil.

And today we ‘re teaching a British slang expression - or maybe just half an expression!

The phrase is not half . Two simple words - but you need to know what they mean when used together.

Let’s try it out first and see if you can work out what it means. For example, Neil, you really enjoyed that pizza, didn’t you?

Not half ! I love pizza. And Feifei, you love playing darts, don ‘t you?

Darts, not half ! I play every night. So - what does not half mean? It means ‘very much’ in these answers. When I replied “ not half “ I meant: ‘Yes, very much.’ I really like darts.

And do you?

What?

Like darts?

Erm, that’s not the point. I’m trying to give an example.

For the record, I do love pizza.

A: That party was awesome!

B: Not half , mate. The music was incredible.

A: Not half is a useful phrase, huh?

B: Not half .

Ahh, that was a funny example. Now, before we go - let’s teach a variation of this phrase.

In this version, we have not half followed by an adjective. For example: I just got back from Singapore. It ‘s not half expensive.

So - that means it’s very expensive! Not half expensive. Similarly, if I were to say: “Your new haircut’s not half nice, Neil! “

You would be saying my haircut is very nice. Was that just another example?

Oh no, I meant it.

Too kind.

Er, thanks! So there we are - not half meaning ‘very much’.

And not half with an adjective.

See you next time.

Bye…