Etymology From Middle English so so, from Old English swā swā, equivalent to so + so. Compare Dutch zozo (“so-so”), German soso (“so-so”), Norwegian så som så (“so-so”).
1
Informal Neither good nor bad; tolerable, passable, indifferent.
The dessert was pretty good, but the meal was so-so.
[I]n ſome Iriſh Houſes, vvhere things are ſo-ſo, / One Gammon of Bacon hangs up for a ſhow; […]1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare, Dublin: […] W. Whitestone, […], published 1776, →OCLC, page 5:
1 more example
He [Robert Burns] certainly wrote some so-so verses to the Tree of Liberty.1844, John Wilson, Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns:
Etymology From Middle English so so, from Old English swā swā, equivalent to so + so. Compare Dutch zozo (“so-so”), German soso (“so-so”), Norwegian så som så (“so-so”).