not worth writing home about
- idiom
- Informal
:
no es nada del otro mundo
- The concert was not worth writing home about; the band seemed tired and the songs dragged on.
The speakers like they get kind of loud, but they're not that great, like not worth writing home about.
- The speakers like they get kind of loud, but they're not that great, like not worth writing home about.
Examples
-
The hotel had clean rooms, but the service was not worth writing home about.
-
Her latest book was not worth writing home about, lacking the excitement of her earlier works.
-
His performance at the meeting was not worth writing home about, but at least he showed up.
-
The movie was not worth writing home about.
-
Honestly, this meal is not worth writing home about.
-
The vacation was not worth writing home about; we spent most of the time just relaxing at the hotel.
-
The exhibition was not worth writing home about since it had only a few interesting pieces.
Synonyms
54
1.9
Not worth attention or notice
43
2.2
Ordinary and not very interesting
29
7.7
Not important and not likely to make a difference
20
3.5
Being ordinary and not interesting
16
3.8
Not interesting or special, so people do not remember it
9
3.9
Not very good or likely to attract attention
8
7.9
Ordinary and dull without imagination or excitement
3
6.8
Too small or not important enough to matter
1
3.4
Not very impressive or special
1
5.3
Not easy to remember or notice later
1
6.1
Too small to be important
1
6.8
Ordinary and not exciting
1
2.6
Not important, often small and playful
Not very good or interesting
Not important or serious compared with other things
Too small to notice or to change anything
Not important and having little effect on events
Antonyms
584
3.4
Causing people to admire it, like a building or performance, because it is very good
How Impressive
257
3.4
584
3.4
114
3.0
- Informal
838
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
not + worth + writing + home + about
The components 'not' and 'worth' make the negative-evaluative force clear, but the fragment 'writing home about' is a culturally rooted, idiomatic way of saying 'worth reporting to family' that a B1 learner may not infer from literal meanings alone. Because the overall sense is partly recoverable from the parts (negative evaluation + telling someone) but relies on a figurative/cultural extension, it is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Not worth writing home about may come from when people sent letters to family to tell big news. If something was ordinary, they would not bother to 'write home' about it, so the phrase now means 'not special' or 'not impressive'.