The Seven Meanings of “Fine,” in Descending Order of Plausible Deniability (opens in new tab)

1. Excellent. Fine as in cabernet. Fine as in dovetail joinery. Fine as in your mother’s china. The original meaning is still technically available. At a dinner party, when Margaret uses fine this way—"the duck was fine"—the table pauses, scans her for irony, finds none, and spends the next forty minutes working out whether they have been complimented or insulted by a person who appears to be operating out of 1873. 2. Adequate. The workhorse. The pad thai was fine. The fourth season of Commun...