"You could do worse than [x]"

Question

I can't really tell what someone means when he says "you could do worse than [x]." Live example:

If you are just interested in a simple command line processor which uses MSXML 6 then you could do worse than using a simple JScript application.

Does anyone know what, exactly, he is trying to say? What nuance is he trying to convey?

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 09 '11 at 16:37

13

This is an example of litotes, which is stating a positive through a negative. It just means that [X] is not bad, that there are many alternatives that are worse.

In the sentence you link to

If you are just interested in a simple command line processor which uses MSXML 6 then you could do worse than using a simple JScript application.

the person who responded is suggesting that using a simple JScript application is a good choice.

answered Jun 09 '11 at 16:37

Robusto

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+1, few more examples for litotes http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html#26, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litotes, http://rhetoric.byu.edu/Figures/L/litotes.htm – Unreason Jun 09 '11 at 16:46
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I'd argue that they are not saying it's a good choice; they're saying it's not a bad choice. – Kit Z. Fox Jun 09 '11 at 17:27
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@Kit: That is virtually the definition of litotes. – Robusto Jun 09 '11 at 17:58
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Reminds me of a Richard Dawkins quote, "You could do worse if you needed a theologian. Although I can't imagine anyone actually needing a theologian." – The Raven Jun 09 '11 at 18:18

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 30 '11 at 11:11

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It's a indirect compliment. You can go check out this link => http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic24532.html for more explanations.

edited Oct 30 '11 at 11:11

Matt E. Эллен

29,137

answered Jun 09 '11 at 16:38

woodykiddy

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 10 '11 at 01:58

My favorite term for this sort of left-handed compliment (technically called a litotes, as @Robusto pointed out) is "praising with faint damns", a humorous inversion of the better-known "damn with faint praise" (which is so old that Alexander Pope is said to have stolen it from Wycherley.)

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 02 '11 at 15:23

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Another example of litotes is the cliché you've seen many times: "x is no small thing!" as in "to move the earth, no matter the lever, is no small thing."

answered Dec 02 '11 at 15:23

Pete Wilson

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"You could do worse than [x]"

4 Answers4

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