“It's kind of hit-or-miss.”
You've been watching a comedy TV show. A friend asks what you think of it. Some episodes are good and others are bad, so you describe it this way.
It's kind of hit-or-miss.
"Kind of" means "a little" or "somewhat". People often use it in spoken English:
It kind of took me by surprise.
You can use "kind of" before an adjective ("kind of shy") or before a verb ("kind of took me by surprise").
Another phrase with a similar meaning is "somewhat":
Most students find that university courses are somewhat more difficult than the classes that they took in high school.
"Somewhat" is more formal. Use "kind of" for most situations and "somewhat" when discussing academic topics or in writing.
The pronunciation of "kind of" sounds like "kinda".
When something is good sometimes, but not-so-good other times, you can describe it as "hit-or-miss":
A: How's the food there?
B: It's a bit hit-or-miss, to be honest.
Some things that you can describe as "hit-or-miss" include:
- TV shows
- a class of investment
"Hit or miss" is not too formal or too casual; you can use it in most situations.