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Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

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81–90 of 123 posts

Re: Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

#81
post #36

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.

As opposed to Vershittification, the perfect union of terms from the two languages.

Re: Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

#82
post #36

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.

> 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".

It's kind of like the road to hell, which is famously paved with good intentions.

Re: Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

#85
post #3

I'd say enshitification is a good enough word. Verschlimmbesserung is not widely used these days in Germany.

How about Verscheisserung / Verschisserung?

I do like the sound of Verscheissification.

As Picard said: Enshitify! (Apologies to my Trekkie friends.)

Re: Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

#87

Value is now only _extracted_. Place the acquired good into the press and smash it until all but the faintest essence remains among the mash. The squeezings are bottled and saved to pay for future _extractions_. Companies like Valve can continue largely unshittificated because they are private. Once that is no longer the case, all our game rentals will be squozen away from us.

[dead]

Re: Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

#88
post #2

We already have a word for it? "Misfeature" The opposite is the more interesting word though: hit bug. A bug/mistake/fuckup that turns out to improve the software.

Like combos in Street Fighter II. Also a "hit bug" in a different sense, as it's an unintended effect of how characters strike each other in game.

Re: Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

#89
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

that's not disagreeing at all (american partial german, partial pole)

It is a different meaning from that in the parent comment by OroPla.

Re: Verschlimmbesserung: The Word Your Software Updates Need

#90

Office 2003 is a terrible example, office is a product that deliberately makes one part worse on each "upgrade" so that the consumer has a reason to upgrade to another release.

That's why it specifies 2003, that's about the point when Office had all the features and usability one needs. The Office versions after that are worse.
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