נישט גוט
nisht gut[nɪʃt ɡɪt]word by word
The English phrase "not good" is translated into Yiddish as נישט גוט (nisht gut).
נישט גוט is used to describe something that is of poor quality or refers to an unsatisfactory situation.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the negation נישט (nisht), meaning "not" and the adjective גוט (gut), meaning "good".
How do you pronounce it?
nisht gut
Did you know?
- The word נישט originally combined terms for 'never' and 'creature' before it simplified into a general negation.
- Yiddish often uses the word גוט to mean 'well' or 'healthy', so נישט גוט is frequently used to describe a person feeling sick rather than just a bad situation.
- While נישט גוט means 'not good', Yiddish has many more specific words for 'bad' depending on whether something is morally wrong, physically broken or socially awkward.
Examples in context
- דאָס איז נישט גוט און נישט געזונט.That's not good or healthy.This sentence shows how to use נישט גוט to describe something that is neither good nor healthy.Tatoeba #11929189 by shekitten, translation #8805551 by shekitten
- דאָס איז נישט גוט געוואָרן.dos iz nisht gut gevorn.It has not turned out good.
Example conversation
Miriam and Avraham are discussing a broken appliance.
- מרים Miriamאברהם, קוק אויף דעם טעלעפאָן!Avraham, kuk oyf dem telefon!Avraham, look at this phone!
- אברהם Avrahamדאָס זעט נישט גוט אויס.dos zet nisht gut oys.That does not look good.
- מרים Miriamעס אַרבעט נישט!es arbet nisht!It doesn't work!
- אברהם Avrahamדאָס איז א נישט גוטע נײַעס.dos iz a nisht gute nayes.That is not good news.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (נישט, גוט) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries גוט, נישט, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
