[General] The meaing of "There is nothing like sth"

[infiniteone]

When people say "There is nothing like 'something' ", It sounds like
"The 'something' is the best".

I wonder if I can use this expression in another way.
Like, "There is no 'something' " or " The 'something' never exists, even any similar thing either."

Here is an example : When I got to the bar, There was no girl. So there was nothing like flirting.

Thank you.

 

[jlinger]

Nope. Doesn't work.

When you got to the bar, there was no girl, so there was no chance to flirt.

You are probably correct in your assumption about the expression. "There is nothing like a dame" (to quote a popular song, I think from South Pacific?): that can mean the speaker feels that a "dame" is the best possible thing in the world. It could also mean there is simply nothing comparable in some other fashion. For example, "There is nothing like a woman driver!" would have an entirely different connotation.

 

[BobK]

... "There is nothing like a woman driver!" would have an entirely different connotation.

Indeed - some might think that it said more about the speaker than about the woman in question.

b

 

[infiniteone]

Indeed - some might think that it said more about the speaker than about the woman in question.

b

He might have read my mind. :lol:

 

[5jj]

I wonder if I can use this expression in another way.
Here is an example : When I got to the bar, There was no girl. So there was nothing like flirting.

'Nothing like' can be used in the way you suggest, though only if the context makes your meaning clear.

The place has only a few dingy bars, There's nothing like a Starbucks within a hundred miles.

(To a suspicious mother): Oh, let me go to the party. OK, some people might have a can of beer, but there'll be nothing like hard liquor or drugs there.