Thread: опасный -> безопасный -> небезопасный -> superfluous?

It's like saying "not unsafe"... which we never use in English, we just say "dangerous", or "not dangerous". "safe", or "not safe".

Actually, there is a gray area, between safe and not safe. There you will find lurking the 'not unsafe'.

небезопасный - 'not without danger' makes good sense for some things.

Originally Posted by Seraph

Actually, there is a gray area, between safe and not safe. There you will find lurking the 'not unsafe'.

Exactly right. "Not unsafe" implies "not inherently dangerous, but possibly there's a risk of danger if one lacks common sense, etc." Like, if a boy wants a skateboard and his mother is against it because she fears he'll break his neck, you could say to her "Skateboarding is not unsafe IF your son wears proper protective gear and goes to a neighborhood skateboard-park instead of riding in the streets."