We continue with typical Spanish expressions used in everyday life. Although it may sound a bit strange, once you have learnt the meaning of ‘ni fu ni fa’, it will be an expression that you will never stop using.
In fact, you have probably already witnessed a situation in which a person responds ‘ni fu ni fa’ to a question about tastes or opinion about something. From Dencanto Community we tell you below what is the meaning of ‘ni fu ni fa’ and clear examples with which to start putting it into practice.
What is the meaning of ni fu ni fa?
‘Ni fu ni fa’ is a very common colloquial phrase used in everyday life. Its meaning is similar to the expression “así así”. Regardless of the question asked, ‘ni fu ni fa’ can be used to express indifference or to indicate that we have neither liked or disliked something, that is, to express that something is neither good nor bad.
For example, when asked ‘Did you like the film?’, the answer ‘ni fu ni fa’ is used to express neither good nor bad, neither too much nor too little.
What is the origin of the Spanish expression ni fu ni fa?
There are doubts about the origin of this well-known expression used today. One of the theories of the origin of this expression comes from its phonetic theory: ‘fu’ from ‘fulastre’, a word that refers to a bad quality; ‘fa’ from ‘fabuloso’. However, there is no evidence that the expression ‘ni fu ni fa’ comes 100% from this phonetic theory.
As for the beginning of its origin, it seems to date back to 1875 when the expression was first referred to.
Example of the use of the expression ‘ni fu ni fa’ in Spanish
Do you want to start using this expression? Moreover, as it is made up of such short words, it will be easy to pronounce by students of Spanish of different levels.
When you want to express that you didn’t love something but you didn’t dislike it either, that is, that something was ‘normal’ or ‘average’, you can use ‘ni fu ni fa’.
For example:
- Do you like Valencian paella? – Ni fu ni fa
- Do you feel like going to the mountains this weekend? – Ni fu ni fa
- Was the film good? – Ni fu ni fa