もそこそこにbarely finishing … before
Someone gives a meal, a greeting or the tidying-up only a hurried minimum and rushes on to the next thing.
When he heard the news, he cut his meal short and rushed out of the house.
How to form it
Noun + もそこそこに
The noun is what gets cut short: 食事, 挨拶, 休憩, 準備, 片付け.
- After it
- What the same person hurried on to: 出かける, 飛び出す, 向かう, 本題に入る.
- Where you'll meet it
- Novels, essays, news features, and people telling a story with some care. Mostly one to read. Aloud, people say 急いで食べて or さっと済ませて.
In use
With barely a word of greeting, the department head got down to business.
To catch the first train, I rushed through breakfast and headed for the station.
Impatient to tell people the results, she tidied up only roughly and left the lab.
Two things to know
Rushed, not skipped
I rushed through breakfast and left the house.
A few hurried mouthfuls.
I left the house without even having breakfast.
Nothing at all.
そこそこ alone is "fairly"
By itself そこそこ is lukewarm approval, "reasonably": そこそこおいしい is "not bad", and no compliment to a cook. In もそこそこに it is no approval at all: the meal or the greeting got less than its due.
Close neighbours
が早いかN1
Speed only: one thing happens and the next comes at once. Nothing was cut short.
No sooner had he finished reading the letter than he tore it into tiny pieces.
Check yourself
1What does this mean?
彼は
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one fits?
子ども
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
A verb goes in with の: 着替えるのもそこそこに, "barely stopping to change".
After a number, そこそこ is "only about": 二十歳そこそこ, barely twenty.
More sentences
With barely a greeting, he hurried to the car that was waiting for him.
After receiving an urgent report, the team cut their break short and returned to the scene.
When the evacuation order came, the residents threw a few things together and left their homes.
After a call from the hospital, she cut the conversation short and got up from her seat.