Meaning of “meno male”

Question

I'm learning to speak Italian (along with my wife and 2 year old), and so we were watching Peppa Pig the other day. We heard a phrase used that seemed like a response to “mi dispiace”, and we think it was “meno male.” Is this roughly the equivalent to the English "no problem"/"no worries" after someone apologizes? If not, what would be a phrase for this meaning?

Answer 1

To set somebody's mind at rest when they say «Mi dispiace», you might want to say «Non ti preoccupare», «Non fa niente», «Figurati». In some situations one could say – to look for something similar to meno male – «Poco male», as in «No (too much) harm done».

Answer 2

"meno male" is not the equivalent of "no problem" / "no worries".

This phrase is used when you want to explain that you have prevented a possible situation.

An Italian synonym of "Meno male" is "Per fortuna".

Examples:

(ITA)

• Meno male che ho studiato altrimenti non avrei risposto alle domande.
• Meno male che ho portato l'ombrello altrimenti mi sarei bagnato.

(ENG)

• Fortunately, I have studied otherwise I would not have answered questions.
• Fortunately, I brought my umbrella otherwise I would have gotten wet.

Answer 3

Another sense to add:

"meno male" has the same sense of the retort in English "coulda been worse", as in, this is "meno male" (less bad) than it could have been.