Un ... māmā-kana. (Hmm. It was ... so-so.)

Situation 1: On her first day back at the office after the holidays, Ms. Gray speaks with Ms. Tamachi.

グレイ： お正月休み、実家に帰ったんでしょ？楽しかった？

田町： うん...、まあまあかな。

Gray: O-shōgatsu-yasumi, jikka-ni kaetta-n-desho? Tanoshikatta?

Tamachi: Un ... māmā-kana.

Gray: You went back to your parent's house over the new year holiday, right? Was it fun?

Tamachi: Hmm. It was ... so-so.

Today we look at the phrases まあまあ and まずまず, which express a subjective degree or evaluation of satisfaction. まあまあis an onomatopoeic term that conveys the feeling that what is being discussed is neither good nor bad: 「あのレストラン、どうだった？」「値段(ねだん)を考(かんが)えると、まあまあかな」"How was that restaurant?" "Considering the price, it was ... so-so." まあまあ is an adverb and can modify adjectives as in: 中古(ちゅうこ)だけど、まあまあきれいだから、がまんしよう。(It's secondhand, but still looks rather pretty. I'll take it.) When it modifies a noun, the form is まあまあの as in まあまあの結果(けっか) (a so-so result). The singular まあ is an adverb that is used as an interjection instead of the word "yes" to indicate that the speaker isn't in complete agreement: 「あの映画(えいが)、できは悪(わる)くなかったけど、女優(じょゆう)が悪かったなあ...」「まあ、そんな感(かん)じですね」"That movie wasn't bad, but the actress was." "Hmm, I kind of felt that way too."

Situation 2: Mitsuo's high school soccer coach is speaking after his team has lost to Minami High School.

コーチ： 南高校に負けたとはいえ、相手は超強豪校だ。２対１だったことを考えると、まずまずの結果だったといえる。後の試合もがんばろう。

Kōchi: Minami Kōkō-ni maketa-towa ie, aite-wa kyōgōkō-da. Ni-tai-ichi-datta koto-o kangaeru-to, mazumazu-no kekka-datta-to ieru. Ato-no shiai-mo ganbarō.

Coach: We lost to Minami High, but they're a very strong team. Considering the score was 2-1, that's not a bad result. Let's try our best in the rest of our matches.

まずまず is another adverb that shows the speaker's evaluation that something is neither very good nor bad. However, unlike まあまあ, まずまず shows the speaker is a little bit more satisfied with the result, which is how the coach uses it in Situation 2. Therefore, まずまず tends to be used to express the result of something

Bonus Dialogue: Continued from Situation 1.

グレイ： ひさしぶりの帰省(きせい)だったのに、まあまあだなんて。

田町： 母(はは)がいっぱいお見合(みあ)い写真(しゃしん)を用意(ようい)していて、うるさいのよ。地元(じもと)の人(ひと)ばっかり。

グレイ： へえ、お見合い、いいじゃない。すてきな写真、なかったの 。

田町： うーん、みんな悪(わる)くはないんだけど、まあまあって感(かん)じかな。それに、今(いま)は仕事(しごと)が忙(いそが)しくて、デートどころじゃないし。

グレイ： お母(かあ)さん、それで、納得(なっとく)なさったの？

田町： まあね。もし、いい人がいて、その人が私(わたし)より高(たか)いお給料(きゅうりょう)をもらっている人(ひと)だったら、田舎(いなか)にもどって結婚する可能性(かのうせい)も、なくはないって言ったら、おとなしくなったわ。

グレイ： まあ、仕事はきついけど、確(たし)かに私たち、まずまずのお給料もらっているから、なかなか田舎(いなか)に帰(かえ)る気(き)にはならないよね。

Gray: Although you haven't been back to your parents' house in a while, it was just so-so?

Tamachi: My mother showed me a ton of photos (of young men) in the hopes of fixing me up, it was annoying. It was all people from my hometown.

Gray: Oh, matchmaking — that's fine though, isn't it? Weren't there any nice-looking photos?

Tamachi: Hmm, they weren't all bad, but they were just ... so-so. Also, I'm too busy with my job to be dating.

Gray: Does your mother understand that?

Tamachi: Hmm, yeah. I said if there was a good guy who earns a higher salary than me, there'd be a possibility I'd go back to my hometown and get married. Then, she went silent.

Gray: Yeah, although our work is tough, it's certainly true we get a high salary. It's natural that we don't want to go back to our hometowns to work there.