schlecht und recht

German

Alternative forms

recht und schlecht

Etymology

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

IPA^(key): [ʃlɛçt ʊnt ʁɛçt]
Audio: (file)

Adjective

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