Isn’t it interesting that “fine” can mean “just okay, maybe not even really okay” or it can mean “exceptional, a peak example of whatever I’m referring to?”
My children asked me tonight what “fine” meant, after I referred to my middle child as a “fine young lady.” She had heard people say “fine” in the first context before, and was worried that I was calling her a “just okay young lady!” I explained the difference, and we briefly discussed how to tell which version someone meant.
What started as a simple word choice turned into an important conversation about context and intent. It can be very hard to communicate what we truly mean, even when we’re doing our best. Giving grace and making charitable assumptions about others is a good pattern of behavior; lord knows we’ll all need it from others now and then.
It’s a fine lesson, indeed.
The Opportunity Machine 