<p>说不好==不好说, in the context, means 'hard to say', 'not quite sure', or 'hard to determine'. 'Hard to say' denotes 'neither yes nor no' or 'yes or no'. They just can't decide whether it's yes or no。 </p>

<p>21.2%的受访青年说不好: 21.2% of young people, who were interviewed, are 'neither yes nor no'.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T20:53:21.453Z
"hard to tell" ........
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T13:52:33.580Z
2017-11-08T13:52:33.580Z
dan
<p>A better translation for this sentence is:<br>
In this survey...(omitted)and 21.2% of the interviewees <strong>couldn't give a definite answer.</strong><br>
Here, 不好 is an modifier for 说, which literally means "can't say well". These interviewees may not know what is a "斜杠青年", or can't decide whether they are "斜杠青年" or not, or simply refuse to answer.<br>
Here is another usage for "说不好":<br>
今天晚上一起去那家自助餐厅吃饭好不好？<br>
Would you like to go to that buffet restaurant with me tonight?<br>
我<strong>说不好</strong>，我可能没时间。<br>
I <strong>don't know</strong>. I might have no time. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-09T05:48:15.340Z
2017-11-09T05:48:15.340Z
Winfred Huang
<p>In the following sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>调查中，11.1%的受访青年自认为已经是“斜杠青年”，46.3%的受访青年想成为“斜杠青年”，21.4%的受访青年不想，还有21.2%的受访青年<strong>说不好</strong>。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The transcribed script writes <em>"neither yes nor no"</em>.</p>

<p>However, I wonder why it becomes such meaning. At first I though that it should mean something like "I could not answer.", as I feel 不好 is a degree complement to 说. But "I could not answer." is definitely not the same as "neither yes nor no".</p>

<p>So my questions are:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Is it correct that 说不好 mean "neither yes nor no"?</p></li>
<li><p>Why does it become such meaning, despite the fact that if you decompose each word grammartically, it would more likely lead to "can't answer" or "don't like to answer", instead of "neither yes nor no".</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T22:22:59.123Z
‘undecided' might be better. 我好想知道什么是’斜杠青年‘？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T22:45:40.723Z
@Pedroski, 说不好 connotes more than 'undecided'. It connotes some within or one's emotion maybe.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-16T09:35:16.297Z
@Pedroski "斜杠青年" origins from "slash", see also https://www.radyhuang.com/the-book-slash-multiple-careers and https://www.zhihu.com/question/40803649.
WDC
<meaning-in-context><word>
The meaning of 说不好
# The meaning of 说不好

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-08)

In the following sentence:

> 调查中，11.1%的受访青年自认为已经是“斜杠青年”，46.3%的受访青年想成为“斜杠青年”，21.4%的受访青年不想，还有21.2%的受访青年**说不好**。

The transcribed script writes *"neither yes nor no"*.

However, I wonder why it becomes such meaning. At first I though that it should mean something like "I could not answer.", as I feel 不好 is a degree complement to 说. But "I could not answer." is definitely not the same as "neither yes nor no".

So my questions are:

* Is it correct that 说不好 mean "neither yes nor no"?
* Why does it become such meaning, despite the fact that if you decompose each word grammartically, it would more likely lead to "can't answer" or "don't like to answer", instead of "neither yes nor no".

**Tags:** meaning-in-context, word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: ‘undecided' might be better. 我好想知道什么是’斜杠青年‘？  
> **username_2**: @username_1, 说不好 connotes more than 'undecided'. It connotes some within or one's emotion maybe.  
> **username_3**: @username_1 "斜杠青年" origins from "slash", see also https://www.radyhuang.com/the-book-slash-multiple-careers and https://www.zhihu.com/question/40803649.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-08. Score: 1

说不好==不好说, in the context, means 'hard to say', 'not quite sure', or 'hard to determine'. 'Hard to say' denotes 'neither yes nor no' or 'yes or no'. They just can't decide whether it's yes or no。

21.2%的受访青年说不好: 21.2% of young people, who were interviewed, are 'neither yes nor no'.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: "hard to tell" ........  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-11-09. Score: 0

A better translation for this sentence is:  
In this survey...(omitted)and 21.2% of the interviewees **couldn't give a definite answer.**  
Here, 不好 is an modifier for 说, which literally means "can't say well". These interviewees may not know what is a "斜杠青年", or can't decide whether they are "斜杠青年" or not, or simply refuse to answer.  
Here is another usage for "说不好":  
今天晚上一起去那家自助餐厅吃饭好不好？  
Would you like to go to that buffet restaurant with me tonight?  
我**说不好**，我可能没时间。  
I **don't know**. I might have no time.


---

