Noncommittal negation: ～くはない：well, it isn’t ~ (but it’s not the opposite either)
I noticed this one in conversation within a few months but I don’t know if I’ve sen it in class. It’s used for explicitly negating one thing, while not implying that it’s necessarily the opposite.
A friend once suggested I try a drink which sounded decidedly unappetizing (some type of shochu with milk?? of all things). When I agreed to try, I hmm’d and said “まずくない,” to which he agreed “まずくはない.”
Adding the extra は is a bit more noncommittal than leaving it out. What I said sounds more like “Hey, this isn’t bad!” (as in “it’s good!”) while my expression and body language were much more neutral, so I should have said “well, it isn’t bad (but I won’t make a more decisive judgement),” or “well, it isn’t bad (but it may be other things)”
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