schlecht und recht
German
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Originally “plain and right”. Later reinterpreted after the new meaning of schlecht, thus “bad and right”, which ultimately gave way to the new turn of phrase mehr schlecht als recht (“more bad than right”). Compare also schlicht.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]schlecht und recht (indeclinable, predicative only)
- (archaic) proper without much ado, simple and neat
- (colloquial) not so good, so-so, barely sufficient, done with difficulty
- Synonym: (now more common) mehr schlecht als recht