English Café: “No good” or “Not good”

Advanced Details: “No good” or “Not good”?

QUESTION: “That's not good” and “That's no good” – Do they mean the same?

ANSWER: Yes, they mean 99% the same. The difference is not very important.

EXPLANATION: But, how are they different?

No good means something has no use or value, and it has no potential of becoming good. At PTTEP we might write:

• No good will come from changing out the pump. A new pump will also fail soon.
• Security noticed the visitor’s suspicious behavior. It indicated that he was up to no good at our Warehouse. (He may be a thief.)
• It’s no good trying to change his mind. He’s very stubborn and inflexible and never listens to others’ opinions.

Not good means something is bad or undesirable. It can also mean not very useful or effective. At PTTEP we might write:

• Option 1 is not good for PTTEP’s operations.
• I’m not much good at explaining math problems.
• Dinner at the canteen today was not good (implies that particular meal tasted bad).