# 太不够意思了吧



## yuechu

大家好！

I recently heard teh following sentence on a 电视剧：订婚这么大的事，也不跟我们战友说一声，太不够意思了吧
Does anyone know the exact meaning of 太不够意思了吧?
Thanks!


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## ovaltine888

yuechu said:


> 大家好！
> 
> I recently heard teh following sentence on a 电视剧：订婚这么大的事，也不跟我们战友说一声，太不够意思了吧
> Does anyone know the exact meaning of 太不够意思了吧?
> Thanks!


中文十级考题

领导：“你这是什么意思？”
阿呆：“没什么意思，意思意思。”
领导：“你这就不够意思了。”
阿呆：“小意思，小意思。” 
领导：“你这人真有意思。”
阿呆：“其实也没有别的意思。”
领导：“那我就不好意思了。”
阿呆：“是我不好意思。”


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## yuechu

Hi, Ovaltine888! It's a joke, right? I understood most of it, but not all. 




ovaltine888 said:


> “没什么意思，意思意思。”


What does the second part of this one mean?

Is "太不够意思了吧" for when something is shameful?


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## johnshen64

yuechu said:


> Hi, Ovaltine888! It's a joke, right? I understood most of it, but not all.
> 
> 
> 
> What does the second part of this one mean?
> 
> Is "太不够意思了吧" for when something is shameful?


Yeah, the whole thing is a joke because the same word has many different meanings. Here 意思意思 means it is just an insignificant token, not a bribe worthy of mentioning (even if it actually is). Chinese is notorious because there are too many homophones. 

Here is another one:

一位刚学过一点中文的美国人来到中国，中国朋友请他吃饭。
到了饭店落座，中国朋友说：“对不起，我去方便一下。”
那老外没明白，“方便”是哪里？
哦，老外意会了。
席间，中国朋友对老外说：“我下次到美国，希望你能帮忙提供些方便。”
老外纳闷了：他去美国，让我提供些厕所干嘛？
道别时，另一位在座的中国朋友热情地对老外说：“我想在你方便的时候请你吃饭。”
见老外吃惊发愣，中国朋友接着说：“如果你最近不方便的话，咱们改日……”
老外无语。
“咱找个你我都方便的时候一起吃饭吧。”
老外随即晕倒。


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## SimonTsai

The dialogue between 領導 and 阿呆 sounds very artificial. I doubt that I will hear that in real everyday life, in Taiwan, so it is okay to let it go.

沒甚麼意思 (No special meaning intended)，意思意思 (but just a little for the occasion)。


yuechu said:


> 订婚这么大的事，也不跟我们战友说一声，太不够意思了吧！


Engagement is a big thing and you aren't planning to share the news? I thought that we were comrades and that we were close!


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## SuperXW

SimonTsai said:


> The dialogue between 領導 and 阿呆 sounds very artificial. I doubt that I will hear that in real everyday life, in Taiwan, so it is okay to let it go.


Every sentence of the joke is quite realistic in Mainland China, and native speakers can quickly get the meaning and imagine a scene of bribery. Of course, in real life, the speakers won't deliberately keep using the word 意思. But any 2-4 sentences are possible in my experience.


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## j29682896

yuechu said:


> 大家好！
> 
> I recently heard teh following sentence on a 电视剧：订婚这么大的事，也不跟我们战友说一声，太不够意思了吧
> Does anyone know the exact meaning of 太不够意思了吧?
> Thanks!


太不够意思了吧 is an expression to show your disappointment in a joking/non-serious manner, usually seen between good friends. When someone you consider good friends didn't do what you think they should do.

In the scenario you provided, someone didn't tell his comrades about his engagement so one of his comrades says (你)太不够意思了吧。


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## albert_laosong

ovaltine888 said:


> 中文十级考题
> 
> 领导：“你这是什么意思？”
> 阿呆：“没什么意思，意思意思。”
> 领导：“*你这就不够意思了。”*
> 阿呆：“小意思，小意思。”
> 领导：“你这人真有意思。”
> 阿呆：“其实也没有别的意思。”
> 领导：“那我就不好意思了。”
> 阿呆：“是我不好意思。”


I think only the bold words above don't sound very clear or not right, the others are all ok.

It doesn't sound right because 不够意思 means we are friends but you are not granting me this favor, or not agreeing to a demand from me etc, so I feel angry or disappointed. While in the joke above I can't see why it's used there. I would expect something like "你这就太客气/见外了吧“。

And yes, it can also be used in a joking way as pointed out above by @j29682896 . So the usage in the OP is ok, but it doesn't sound quite right in the joke above.


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## Jonny W.

yuechu said:


> 大家好！
> 
> I recently heard teh following sentence on a 电视剧：订婚这么大的事，也不跟我们战友说一声，太不够意思了吧
> Does anyone know the exact meaning of 太不够意思了吧?
> Thanks!




The meaning of 意思 here is "friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude."
The whole sentence "太不够意思了吧?"  literally means "too inadequately friendly feeling"


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## retrogradedwithwind

太不够意思了吧=太不够朋友了吧。

Those two means nearly same. 够 here means


> 达到某一点或某种程度 [reach(a certain point or degree);get hold of;be up to]。如:刚够条件;够资格;够格;个子不够高




够朋友 = 达到了朋友的程度。
够意思 = 达到了意思的程度。
意思here means 


> 道义、交情。
> 如：「你把难题推给我，太不够意思了。」


够意思 = 达到了交情的程度。


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## SimonTsai

SuperXW said:


> Of course, in real life, the speakers won't deliberately keep using the word 意思.


That is why I found it artificial.


> and native speakers can quickly [...] imagine a scene of bribery.


I am sorry to surprise you, but I was honestly confused when I first read that dialogue. I could tell the difference between all those '意思', but it was not until you told me that I realised that it is bribery.


albert_laosong said:


> So the usage in the OP is ok, but it doesn't sound quite right in the joke above.


Yes, I feel the same.


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## gonecar

订婚这么大的事，也不跟我们战友说一声，太不够意思了吧。

太不够意思了吧, as in the sentence above，means to say (what you have done or the the decision you made not to let us know that you are getting married does) not well deserve the meaning of a decent comradeship-in-arms. What you have done is unpresentable. Or, What you have done didn't well line up with what you were supposed to.


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## gonecar

领导：“你这是什么意思？”
阿呆：“没什么意思，*意思意思*。”

Re: What does the second part( bolded)of this one mean?

意思意思(in this context) means this little gift( probably a bribery) is a token of our regard for what you have helped with and for what you will help with.


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## albert_laosong

gonecar said:


> 领导：“你这是什么意思？”
> 阿呆：“没什么意思，*意思意思*。”
> 
> Re: What does the second part( bolded)of this one mean?
> 
> 意思意思(in this context) means this little gift( probably a bribery) is a token of our regard for what you have helped with and for what you will help with.


yes, it means it's not something very expensive or not a lot of money, it's only a small token of our gratitude or our friendship. 
But of course it's usually expensive or a big sum of money. 

Alternatively you can also say 没什么意思，(*一点)小意思*, a equivalent of saying 湿湿碎 in Cantonese(not sure thought, don't know much about Cantonese). 

But I think nowadays it's more likely for people to say "一点心意“, which sounds a bit more refined/cultured than 意思意思 or 小意思 in this context.


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## SuperXW

There has been quite a lot discussion about 意思 on the forum, including the joke. We can refer to the following:
Search results for query: 意思


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## T.D

够意思 ≈ 够朋友 = treating the other person as a close friend


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## yuechu

Thank you all for your help!


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## henter

His 战友 is implying that he doesn't treat his 战友 like a friend. It's used to grouse about something. Case in point:
CNN to a liberal: "You only appear on Fox News despite being a liberal. 太不够意思啦."


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## garbage_cnbeta

不够意思, doing something (or not doing something) that let others (like 战友 in question) feel disappointed.



> 订婚这么大的事，也不跟我们...说一声，太不够意思了吧


You let us / me down that didn't notify us for your engagement.


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