The word "不赖" is formed through a conceptual fusion where the first character "不" (not) acts as a negating force, not directly on the literal meaning of the second character "赖" (to depend on; to blame; poor), but on its underlying negative connotations. It essentially reverses the core idea, transforming the potential notion of "bad" or "blameworthy" inherent in "赖" into its opposite, arriving at a colloquial sense of "not bad", which pragmatically functions as a mild praise meaning "pretty good" or "quite satisfactory".