Comment by OroPla
10 hours ago
German here. A "Verschlimmbesserung" is something that makes one part better and another part worse. If it only makes things worse you don't need a German word for it, you can just call it worse.
For things that were intended good, but ended up bad, there's an English idiom: the path to hell is paved with good intentions.
Not a German but Duden disagrees with you [0]: "etwas in der Absicht, es zu verbessern, schlechter machen".
[0]: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/verschlimmbessern
German here, this is the right definition, trying to improve something but ending up making it worse.
that's not disagreeing at all (american partial german, partial pole)
Both my memory (as a German) and Duden disagree with you.
> etwas in der Absicht, es zu verbessern, schlechter machen > > https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/verschlimmbessern
"Making somewhere worse with the intention to make it better".
My understanding is that a Verschlimmbesserung stems from a genuine intent to improve something, even though it ultimately has the opposite effect.
I don't remember hearing or using it in this context. It's pretty rare that the goal was to make something worse and if the outcome is only bad, you can just call it bad, right? The word is only needed to communicate that there were good and bad outcomes.
A Verschlimmbesserung of the definition of Verschlimmbesserung.
Just calling it bad does not include the intent of improving it. Verschlimmbesserung does.
> For things that were intended good, but ended up bad, there's an English idiom:
Better is the enemy of good.
Old Italian proverb: "il meglio è nemico del bene"
Shakespeare, King Lear: "Striving to better, oft we mar what's well".
Yeah, no, it means wanting to make things better but ending up making them worse.
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