可以吗? keyi ma? (Was it good for you?)

bodawei

April 13, 2010, 02:38 AM posted in General Discussion

After a meal yesterday, while paying, I was asked 可以吗? and realised this is simply the question: Was it good?  老板/服务员 are not usually interested in whether you like the food or not, but in this case they couldn't believe that I wanted neither 辣 là nor 酱油 jiàngyǒu (soy sauce), hence the question.    

This reminds me of something that has always been a bit of a mystery: the expressions ranging from BAD to GOOD - what order should you use them in?  

还可以 (just so so - and a little below just so so) - with grimace

马马虎虎 (just so so) - with smile (what can you do?)

好 (quite good) - pretty expressionless

可以 (quite good, pretty good) 

不错 (quite good) - said with increasing enthusiasm...

挺好的 & 很好 (good/ quite good)

很不错 (better than quite good)

非常不错 & 非常好 (better than better than quite good; extremely good)

太好了 (wonderful, great)

Any poddies like to add their bit?  Suggest a better ordering?  

What about bad, worse, worst?