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What does “tant pis” mean in French?

Tant pis is the two-word shrug: “oh well,” “never mind,” “too bad.” It fits the moment when something small does not work out and you decide to let it go — the shop is shut, the charger is the wrong type, the train has already gone. It is neutral and everyday rather than rude, and it often arrives with bon in front of it: bon, tant pis.

Its mirror is tant mieux, “so much the better” — the phrase for good news you had not counted on. Literally the pair reads “so much worse” and “so much better,” and French speakers use them as a matched set, which makes them easy to learn in one go.