what is the meaning of 'there are worse ways doing this than that'

Question

what is the meaning of

There are worse ways doing this than that.

For example:

There are worse ways spending this evening than coming to the meeting.

Does this mean coming to the meeting isn't that bad?

There are worse ways to die than drowning.

Does this mean drowning isn't the worst thing? Or the other way round?

Answer 1

Each of those sentences can be split up into three parts:

There are worse ways to die than drowning.

• Drowning is a way to die.
• You may think that drowning is a bad way to die.
• But there are other ways to die that are worse.

There are worse ways spending this evening than coming to the meeting.

• Coming to the meeting is a way to spend this evening.
• You may think it is a bad way to spend the evening.
• But there are other ways to spend the evening that are worse.

So your assumed meaning is correct: attending the meeting is not the worst thing and drowning is not the worst way to die.