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率直に言って彼女が苦手なのは、彼女はまず最初に他人の助けを求めるからです。

Frankly speaking, I dislike her, because the first thing she does is to ask other people for help.

I would like to better understand the quality of dislike expressed here with 苦手. Is it related to the other meaning of 苦手, perhaps as in "I am not good at handling her," and thus maybe less severe than 彼女が好きじゃない? How does this 苦手 compare to 好きじゃない in severity, nuance and politeness?

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苦手 has a nuance which is something like 'not good at' 'weak point' 'hard to deal with', thereby hinting that your dislike for something/someone is not entirely their fault, but perhaps also partially yours.

This makes 苦手 softer and safer than 好きじゃない.

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  • in this sense, is it more the kind of word that one would use to describe co-workers, as opposed to an emotional relationship with friends or family?
    – yadokari
    Feb 14, 2012 at 3:41
  • @yadokari You can use it for both.
    – dainichi
    Feb 14, 2012 at 3:44
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    I agree with your explanation, but I think that some people use 苦手 as a euphemism for 嫌い, regardless of whether they really think that the dislike is partly their own fault. Feb 14, 2012 at 13:18
  • @TsuyoshiIto Completely agree. I guess what I am explaining is more the background for this euphemism.
    – dainichi
    Feb 14, 2012 at 13:40
  • @TsuyoshiIto thank you for that extra info
    – yadokari
    Feb 14, 2012 at 15:30

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