mau
poor
Colloquial for bad, meager, or unsatisfactory. It often describes a situation, a result, or the general state of affairs.
EXAMPLE
Die Geschäftslage ist in diesem Quartal ziemlich mau.
Business conditions are pretty poor this quarter.
mau
poor / queasy
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Meanings
mau
queasy
To feel physically unwell, weak, or slightly nauseous.
EXAMPLE
Ich bleibe heute lieber zu Hause, mir ist irgendwie mau.
I'd rather stay home today; I somehow feel queasy.
Usage tips
Register: colloquial
The word 'mau' (poor/queasy) is clearly colloquial. In formal or written contexts, such as an official report, you would tend to avoid it.
EXAMPLE
Die Party war ziemlich mau, deshalb bin ich früh gegangen.
The party was pretty poor, so I left early.
Sentence structure
'Mau' is almost always used predicatively, meaning it comes after the noun it describes and is connected with a verb like 'sein' (to be) or 'aussehen' (to look). Using it directly before a noun, e.g. 'ein maues Gefühl' (a queasy feeling), is very rare.
EXAMPLE
Die Ernte dieses Jahr sieht leider mau aus.
The harvest this year unfortunately looks poor.
Dative construction
To express physical discomfort, the impersonal construction with the dative is often used: 'Mir ist mau.' (I feel queasy.) This follows the same pattern as 'Mir ist schlecht' (I feel sick) or 'Mir ist kalt' (I am cold).
EXAMPLE
Nach der langen Busfahrt war mir etwas mau im Magen.
After the long bus ride, my stomach felt a bit queasy.
Compare with
mau vs schlecht
bad
Schlecht and mau can both be used to assess an unsatisfactory result. Schlecht is neutral and can describe any clearly low level of quality. Mau is colloquial and often describes results or situations as rather meager or disappointing.
mau
Die Verkaufszahlen waren mau und blieben etwas unter den Erwartungen.
The sales figures were poor and remained somewhat below expectations.
schlecht
Die Verkaufszahlen waren schlecht und lagen deutlich unter dem Ziel.
The sales figures were bad and fell well short of the target.
In real life
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