“It was nice and all, but it didn't quite live up to the hype.”
A new restaurant opened recently in your city. It's gotten very positive reviews and you've heard several people talk about it. You went there this weekend and didn't like it as much as you expected. You're telling a friend what you think of the restaurant.
It was nice and all, but it didn't quite live up to the hype.
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It's nice and all, but...
Sometimes you want to complain about something that wasn't bad, but didn't match your tastes or interests. To do this, use the phrase "It's nice and all, but..."
For example, you can say this to talk about going to the opera:
It's nice and all, but I'm not sure that I would go again. It's just really expensive.
Or you can complain about a restaurant that was highly recommended to you:
It was nice and all, but it didn't quite live up to the hype.
Adding "...and all" makes this expression sound a little more negative than just saying "It's nice, but..."
You can use this expression in spoken English, but probably not in writing.
live up to (something)
"Living up to" something means meeting or matching an expectation that someone has. Here are a few things that something can "live up to":
live up to someone's expectations
live up to a positive review
live up to one's potential
You can use it like this:
My parents set really high standards for me, and I haven't always lived up to them.
hype
"Hype" means really strong positive reviews or positive opinions about something. But "hype" itself is a negative word. So when you call positive reviews or opinions "hype", it means that you don't believe them.
Some examples:
Don't believe the hype.
There was a bunch of hype recently about this new social networking app. I can't keep up with all that.