Good-for-nothing

Good-for-nothing is a German swear word that is rarely used . It describes a person who is no good for anything or who has a lifestyle that burdens others unduly and is of no use to anyone.

use

In the literature, primarily of the 19th and 20th centuries, descendants of bourgeois families were also given this name, who did not follow the family tradition of taking up bourgeois "bread" professions, but exercised an artistic activity for self-realization . But rulers were also given this attribute at the time, such as Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia.

Similar names

Other words for good-for-nothing are also:

• No good, no good, Hallodri
• Haderlump , Tagedieb , Lüderjahn

reception

• Bernhard Sinkel's 1977 film Good- for- nothing was based on the important novel by Eichendorff , published in 1826, From the life of a good-for-nothing , in which the character of the good-for-nothing found its literary exaggeration.
• Day thief and good-for-nothing is Hugo Wehner's travel report about his attempt to get out of everyday life while sailing .
• Tagedieb and Good-for-nothing is a story by Rainer Gross .
• The writer and cultural scientist Norbert W. Schlinkert published the narrative essay Tauge / Nothing , a modern version of the good-for-nothing , in the edition taberna kritika in 2020 .

literature

• Proverbs and sayings about good-for-nothing. In: Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander (Hrsg.): German Sprichwort Lexikon. Volume 4: Saddle to White. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1876 ( zeno.org ).
• Good-for-nothing. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 21 : T – Treftig - (XI, 1st section, part 1). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1935, Sp. 200 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).

Web links

Wiktionary: Good-for-nothing  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Good-for- nothing . In: Universal Lexicon of the Present and Past . 4., reworked. and greatly increased edition, Volume 17:  Piece foundry – Turkish rain ball , self-published, Altenburg 1863, p.  297 .
2. ^ Hugo Wehner: Tagedieb and good-for-nothing . Delius Klasing, 1982, ISBN 3-7688-0392-9 .
3. ^ Rainer Gross: Tagedieb and good-for-nothing . Books on Demand, 2015, ISBN 978-3-7347-3947-7 .
4. ↑ Norbert W. Schlinkert: ne'er / Nothing . edition taberna kritika, 2020, ISBN 978-3-905846-56-0 .