merely bad rather than painfully awful 
(ROOT (ADJP (ADJP (RB merely) (JJ bad)) (CONJP (RB rather) (IN than)) (ADJP (RB painfully) (JJ awful))))
(ROOT (ADJP (ADJP (RB ) (JJ )) (CONJP (RB ) (IN )) (ADJP (RB ) (JJ ))))