This better be good

Hello Paco

I take it for an ellipsis of "this had better be good", i.e. "I expect great things from this".

I think the "had" has slowly worn away into a wafer-thin "d" and then slipped down the gullet of the speaker.

MrP

MrPedanticI take it for an ellipsis of "this had better be good", i.e. "I expect great things from this".
I think the "had" has slowly worn away into a wafer-thin "d" and then slipped down the gullet of the speaker.

Hello MrP

Thank you for the quick answer.

Now I see the original form of the phrase. It seems to be ellided like:
"He

Usually the context would be something like this: you have forgotten something important, arrived very late for an appointment,or have failed in some job you were supposed to do. As you prepare to offer your explanation/excuse/apology, your wife/boss/co-worker says, "This (had) better be good!" meaning "You had better have a really, really good excuse this time, because I'm out of patience

Thank you, Khoff. So the phrase seems to be used in contexts the speaker wants to show their angry towards their collocutor. Right? If it is so, the real meanings seem very far from the literal interpretation "I expect great things from this". I am wondering if it is an expression connoting some malicious irony.

paco

Yes, I think it's almost a veiled threat -- "This better be good, or else!" ("Or else you're in trouble!")

Another possible context - I buy a lot of very expensive ingredients and spend all day in the kitchen cooking a new dish. As I serve it, I say "This better be good!" with the implication being "It was a lot of work and expense - I hope it wasn't all wasted!"

Thank you again, Khoff. This new context seems a bit different from the previous ones. But I feel it is also a situation leading the speaker to vexation. Anyway I find it a bit tough to find Japanese phrases suitable as the translation of "This better be good".

paco

Paco,
Yes, it is a bit different, but not all that different. It's almost as if the frustration and threat is directed at the special dish itself, rather than at a person. "This better be good, you expensive and time-consuming little recipe, or else I'm never going to make you again!".
CJ

Yes, exactly!

You can also use the phrase like this:
-You'd better go home before it gets too dark.
-You'd better turn the volume down. Everyone is asleep.
Certainly these are not threatening. From Cambridge, it shows that there are two meaning, advice and threat.

sb had better do sth
used to give advice or to make a threat:
You'd better (= You should) go hom

I don't entirely understand the structure of "had better".

It seems to be a subjunctive:

1. You had better go = it were better for you to go = it would be better if you went.

And the following verb seems to be an infinitive:

2. You had better (to) go.

3. You had better (to) have a good excuse.

With luck, someone else will be able to take it fur