What does 'neat' mean in response of an action or other phrase as an adverb.
Is this some kind of positive exclamation closer to the meaning of 'good', 'exactly' or something?
“I am asking, because recently I asked one of the Americans and he said in US they use it when they tired, not in a good mood or don't want to respond. I've not found such information on the Internet, that is why I am asking this question here.”
I can understand this usage, but it’s not actually related to its meaning. It’s just a way to end a conversation by making your response short and one that cannot be responded to. You can use “cool” in the same way.
If I told someone about something exciting that I did and they responded with something like “neat”, I would interpret that as a lack of interest in talking about it, because otherwise they’d show more excitement and/or ask about it.
Compare these two scenarios:
”I just came back from a month-long vacation.”
”Neat.”
“I just came back from a month-long vacation.”
”Oh, wow! That’s such a long time! Where did you go? I bet you had a lot of fun!”
"Neat" has several meanings; it's a complicated word.
One of the meanings of "neat" is, indeed, "cool." It is used about something that is small and not very important, but nevertheless done exceptionally well, something ingenious, something clever.
"Just remember the phrase How I wish I could recollect 'pi' easily today. Count the number of letters in every word and you get 3.14159265."
"Hey, that's a neat trick."
Other meanings for "neat" include "tidy and organized," and "undiluted" ("he drinks his whiskey neat"). In the past, "neat" was also a noun meaning "a cow or other bovine animal;" it isn't used any more, but it survives in the phrase "neatsfoot oil," which is still used to mean a specific kind of oil made from cattle bones.
There isn't any adverb "neat;" the adverbial form is "neatly." It can have both the meaning of "tidy" ("The package was wrapped neatly in brown paper") or "skillfully, ingeniously" ("The skater finished off the routine neatly with brilliant series of moves.")
Thanks very much to all of you for your explanations.
No, we were talking on chat, so it is definitely 'neat'.
Susan, the person whom I exchanged messages with was young, but he said that this slang word is not only used by young generation of English speakers.
Yes, Abdullah, something really close to your example:
”I just came back from a month-long vacation.”
”Neat.”
So, in this case the meaning is the same (like 'good' or 'pleasant'), but there is a lack of enthusiasm from the answerer. That's why he uses 'Neat', instead of 'Nice', 'Good', or 'Great'. Do I understand it right?
