schlecht

Forms

schlecht (strong nominative masculine singular schlechter, comparative schlechter, superlative am schlechtesten)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German sleht, inherited from Old High German sleht (“smooth, level, simple”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“smooth, level”).^[2][3][4] The same adjective is Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (slaihts, “smooth”), Old Norse sléttr (“level, smooth”), Old Saxon sliht, Old Frisian sliucht and Dutch slecht.^[2][3][1] Pfeifer derives English slight through Middle English from Norse, while the Grimms' dictionary takes it for a loan from Dutch or Low German.^[3][5]

Kluge sees in it the shape of a participle in *-to- belonging to schleichen, which also had the senses “to glide, smooth”, and compares Old English slīc (“smooth”).^[2] Pfeifer derives it from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leiĝ- (“slimy, to glide, to smooth”), an extension of the root of Leim and Lehm, so that its first sense was “smoothed, level”.^[3][6] Kluge also compares Old Irish slíachtaid (“rubs, strokes”), which may however be a loan from Germanic.^[2] The Grimms' dictionary, in 1899, still called the origin obscure.^[5]

The vowel /i/ was regular in Old High German derivatives such as slihtī and could spread back into the adjective, helped by the Low German form slicht: this is the source of schlicht, which kept the old meaning.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German sleht is recorded from the 8th century, in the Abrogans and other glosses, and in the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “smooth, level, plain, simple” and also “gentle, kind, flattering”.^[4][7][6] Notker's nâh slehten worten means “literally, in plain words”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German sleht meant straight or level, as opposed to crooked and rough, and also plain, simple and sincere: dû kanst wol krump sleht machen, “you can make the crooked straight”.^[8] Luther still used it for “straight” and “smooth”, and as an adverb for “merely” and “utterly”.^[9]

From the 15th century schlecht “simple” was contrasted with what is precious or excellent, and so came to mean “of little worth, not good”, while the old meaning passed to schlicht.^[3][2][9] Paul finds the modern sense from the 16th century, in Dasypodius and later in Stieler (schlechter Wein), and the moral sense “bad, wicked” grew out of it.^[9][10] The old meaning survives in schlecht und recht and in schlechthin (17th century), schlechtweg (late 17th century, after Middle High German slehtes weg) and schlechterdings (late 17th century).^[3][11] Litotes nicht schlecht “not bad, excellent” began in student slang in 1795.^[9]

German schlecht was borrowed into Hungarian as selejt “bad, defective” (1462) and into Polish as szlecht “scoundrel” (1861), and the Germanic word also gave Italian schietto “pure, plain”.^[12][5]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German sleht appears in glosses.^[2][4]
• 14th century – slehtes weg, the ancestor of schlechtweg, is recorded.^[3]
• 15th century – schlecht begins to mean “of little worth”, and schlicht takes over the old sense.^[3][9]
• 1462 – Hungarian selejt “bad, defective” is recorded.^[12]
• 16th century – The modern sense “bad” is established.^[9]
• 17th century – schlechthin is formed.^[3]
• 18th century – Schlechtigkeit “badness, wickedness” is formed.^[3]
• 1795 – nicht schlecht is recorded as student slang for high praise.^[9]
• 1861 – Polish szlecht is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Bad, of poor quality, full of faults: Das Frühstück im Hotel war schlecht.^[10][1]
2. Weak, inadequate, not enough in amount or strength: Bei Nebel sieht man auf dieser Straße schlecht.^[10]
3. Unfavourable, unfortunate, and unpleasant: Die Aussichten für morgen sind schlecht.^[10]
4. Morally bad, wicked.^[10][1]
5. Unwell, sick, nauseated: mir ist schlecht.^[10][1][9]
6. Of food: spoiled, gone off.^[1][13]
7. (adverb) Hardly, with difficulty: Am Montag kann ich schlecht.^[10][1]
8. (dated) Plain, simple, as in schlecht und recht.^[10][9]

Word family

• schlechthin
• schlechtweg
• schlechterdings
• Schlechtigkeit
• schlechtmachen
• verschlechtern

Related words

• schlicht
• schleichen
• English slight

Usage notes

Schlecht und recht first meant “simple and upright” and is a biblical phrase, but mehr schlecht als recht “after a fashion” shows the later sense.^[9] Nicht schlecht in colloquial speech means “very much”: sie staunte nicht schlecht.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 809
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 404
5. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 15, 519
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 297
8. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 967
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
11. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 740
12. ^ a b c Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
13. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org