Well, as you can see I am making some progress with the new theme, but it is still half baked. Ok, so as to not totally waste web space and bandwidth with this post, how do you say ‘half baked’ in Japanese?

This is one of my favorite words and can be very useful for the indecisive:

中途半端

中途 chuu to halfway; mid-course
半端 han pa fragment; incomplete

There is something about 中途半端, that makes it fun to say. 中途半端、中途半端、中途半端… Ok, I will stop. It was fun while it lasted.

Here is an example sentence taken from the Kenkyusha 新和英大辞典:

うちの子(こ)は何(なに)をしても中途半端にやめてしまう。

Whatever he takes up, our son always quits halfway through.

Notes:

• うちの子 could just as easily refer to a daughter (or a dog for that matter)
• 何をしても whatever (he) does
• ～てしまう shows completion and usually a tinge of regret.

Interestingly if you take 中途 and reverse the kanji you get:

途中 to chuu on the way, midway

Usually this is used literally as midway from point A to point B like:

家(いえ)に帰(かえ)る途中で、雪男（ゆきおとこ）があらわれた。

On the way home, the Abominable Snowman appeared. (This example is NOT from the Kenkyusha dictionary, BTW)

But it can also mean halfway in any other sense.

映画(えいが)を途中から見（み）るのはいやだ。

I hate watching movies from the middle. (this example is from the Kenkyusha dictionary)

Both 中途半端 and 途中 are very useful and do not depend on any proof of existence of the Abominable Snowman.