好不冷淡

[kavanin]

雪水煮豆腐—好不冷淡

 

In this 歇后语, "不 " confuses me. If I take 冷淡 as a word, it seems to mean "not at all cold and indifferent", exact opposite of what the sentence actually mean.

 

Should I take it as "好不冷而淡" not at all cold but tasteless/indifferent."

 

Or could it be that saying something but implying the exact opposite?

[imron]

In this 歇后语, "不 " confuses me.

That's because you need to keep it together with 好.

 

'好不'  in this context means 'utterly/extremely'. 

 

When paired with 冷淡 it means extremely 冷淡 because 雪水 is 冷 and 豆腐 is 淡.

[Hofmann]

Probably related to 毫不, which may help you make sense of it.

[eddyf]

According to Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian, paradoxically, 好不 + adjective always serves to intensify the adjective, rather than negate it. There is only one exception, 好不容易, which means 'not easy'. Further adding to the confusion, 好容易 sometimes means 'not easy' and sometimes means 'very easy' depending on the situation.

[kavanin]

Your explanations help a lot. Thank you.