# Poor / of low quality



## Dymn

The question is straightforward: can your language use _poor _in the meaning of 'of low quality'? English does, as in _That was a poor performance. _In Catalan and Spanish it is also possible.


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## ilocas2

In Czech *chudý* (= poor) is used when there is too few of something.

chudý film - poor film - little of action, story
chudá výzdoba - poor decoration - few decorative items
chudá koupelna - poor bathroom - few stuff in the bathroom


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## ger4

German _*arm*_, otherwise often corresponding to English 'poor', isn't normally used in this context. A sentence like 'That was a poor performance' would be translated as _Das war eine schlechte Leistung _(lit.: 'That was a bad performance').

Another option is using the adjective  _*armselig**_, meaning:
(1) 'materially poor' with regard to living conditions, for instance, or
(2) 'poor' in terms of quality standards.
(1) _eine armselige Unterkunft_ - poor accommodation
(2) _eine armselige Leistung_ - a poor performance

Edit: _armselig_ sounds less 'objective' than _schlecht_ and can be compared to 'pathetic' in English.

_* arms__elig_  <  _arm_ ('poor')  +  _-sel_ < Middle High German _-sal_, derivational suffix (adjective > noun)  +  _-ig_, derivational suffix (noun > adjective)


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## AutumnOwl

In an online Swedish-English dictionary there are thirteen different Swedish words for the different meanings of the English word poor, and some of them can be used for "of low quality", but if you by poor mean the opposite of rich, the only use would be in words such as _fettfattig_ - low on fat, _fettfattig mat_ - low-fat food.


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## 810senior

Actually we don't have a certain translation in Japanese standing for _poor_. Some may adapt to the both _someone _and _something _poor and some not.

Poor - _binbou_, _hinjaku_, _hinsou_, _mazushii_, _toboshii_, _somatsuna_, etc.
A *poor *man 貧乏人*binbou*nin (we don't use this for things like place and clothes)
A *poor *facility 貧弱な施設_*hinjaku na*_ shisetsu (c.f. _*hinjaku na*_ hito - a *weak* man)
*Poor *outfits 見窄らしい服装*misuborashii *fukusou (c.f. _*misuborashii *_hito - a man with a *shabby *body)


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## Radioh

No. Poor(nghèo) quality(chất lượng) sounds odd though understandable 
Bad(tệ)/low(thấp) quality are natural.


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## apmoy70

Holger2014 said:


> German _*arm*_, otherwise often corresponding to English 'poor', isn't normally used in this context. A sentence like 'That was a poor performance' would be translated as _Das war eine schlechte Leistung _(lit.: 'That was a bad performance')


Greek too depending on context might use the adj. *«πτωχός, -χή, -χό»* [ptoˈxos] (masc.), [ptoˈçi] (fem.), [ptoˈxo] (neut.), colloq. *«φτωχός, -χή/-χιά, -χό»* [ftoˈxos] (masc.), [ftoˈçi]/[ftoˈça] (fem.), [ftoˈxo] (neut.) < Classical adj. *«πτωχός, -χός/-χὴ, -χόν» ptōkʰós* (masc.), *ptōkʰós* and *ptōkʰḕ* (fem.), *ptōkʰón* (neut.) --> _beggar, begging poor_ (with obscure etymology, perhaps from the PIE root *pteh₂-(k-) _to duck away, shy_ with possible cognate the 3rd declension masculine noun *«πτώξ» ptṓk͡s* --> _hare_).
We prefer the adj. *«κακός, -κή, -κό»* [kaˈkos] (masc.), [kaˈci] (fem.), [kaˈko] (neut.) < Classical adj. *«κακός, -κὴ, -κόν» kăkós* (masc.), *kăkḕ* (fem.), *kăkón* --> _bad, awful, worthless, ugly_ (possibly from PIE *knḱ- _slight_ cf Av. kasu- _small, slight_).


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## Messquito

I think you mean if in our languages we use one word to mean both "impoverished(opposite to rich)" and "of low quality" (or perhaps you mean "pitiful/miserable/unfortunate" and "of low quality"?)
I can't think of any in Chinese. In Chinese the most common term for "economically poor" is 窮; it is not used on "performance" but like poor, it has other meanings, like "of low living quality"/"unsuccessful"/"ultimate/end"/"look into/investigate"/"in vain"/"completely/thoroughly".


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## Armas

In Finnish generally it can't be used.

poor performance = heikko esitys, literally weak performance


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## bigic

In Serbian:
Poor (opposite of rich): siromašan, jadan
Poor (in most other meanings): loš, e.g. loš kvalitet (poor quality), loša frizura (poor haircut), loše ocene (poor grades)...


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## mataripis

Mahina' in Tagalog. Mahinang Uri ang gawang Tsekwa.( Made in Tsekwa are poor quality)


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## kaverison

Tamil
poor - not rich - eezhai, illaathavan

poor quality - mattam (low) level, moosam (bad, dirty, ugly etc)


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## Medune

In Portuguese, _barato_ is both low price cheap and low quality cheap.


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## merquiades

Diamant7 said:


> The question is straightforward: can your language use _poor _in the meaning of 'of low quality'? English does, as in _That was a poor performance. _In Catalan and Spanish it is also possible.


Hi Diamant. Could you give an example of how poor is used in Catalan or Spanish?  Thanks


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## SuperXW

Chinese (simplified):
1. poor - not rich: 穷, 贫穷
2. poor - low quality: 差, 劣质的
*3. poor - miserable: "Poor girl! She is bullied by her classmate!"* 可怜

Let's not forget the 3rd meaning of "poor", shall we?


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## ger4

SuperXW said:


> Chinese (simplified):
> 1. poor - not rich: 穷, 贫穷
> 2. poor - low quality: 差, 劣质的
> *3. poor - miserable: "Poor girl! She is bullied by her classmate!"* 可怜
> 
> Let's not forget the 3rd meaning of "poor", shall we?


Danish (unlike English and German) normally makes a similar distinction between (1) and (3). It is quite difficult to define the difference so I'll add some dictionary entries with example sentences:
(1) _fattig_ - poor, impoverished, not rich, low on something, short of something, lacking something, ... (as in Swedish, #4)
--> da-en
--> 穷 - zh-da
--> 贫穷 - zh-da
(2) _dårlig_ - poor, bad, nasty, deficient, negative, dreadful,  of low quality, ...
--> da-en
(3) _stakkels_ - poor, unfortunate, pitiful, ...
--> da-en
--> 可怜 zh-da


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## Nawaq

In *French *I think it would be _bas de gamme_, something generally cheap and of low or not super quality, _"mon téléphone est vraiment bas de gamme, y a même pas internet dessus", _poor is _pauvre_ and I don't know if you can use it that way, poor quality would then be _(de) pauvre qualité_ and it doesn't sound very good to me but maybe it exists (after some thinking, I think it does), you can use it in other ways though, _pauvre de moi_ "poor me!", _pauvre/pauv' con_ (vulgar) "dickhead", _pauvre en matières grasses_ "low fat content", etc.


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## Sardokan1.0

In Sardinian we have :

*Mezzanu *(pronounce TZ) = of low quality, bad looking, in a bad state, in bad health; the identical word and meaning can be found also in Corsican language
*Barattu* = cheap, unexpensive; sometimes it's also used as synonymous of Mezzanu


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## danel32

Diamant7 said:


> The question is straightforward: can your language use _poor _in the meaning of 'of low quality'? English does, as in _That was a poor performance. _In Catalan and Spanish it is also possible.



In Estonian it's possible. You can say:

Kehv kvaliteet (kehv=poor kvaliteet=quality)


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## ger4

^ can _kehv_ also be used as an antonym of 'rich'? I thought in that case you would normally use _vaene_.


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## danel32

Holger2014 said:


> ^ can _kehv_ also be used as an antonym of 'rich'? I thought in that case you would normally use _vaene_.



Yes you can. _Kehv_ comes from _kehvik, _which means "poor person". English-Estonian Dictionary

Expressions with word _kehv_ Estonian-English dictionary

In Estonian you can't say _vaene kvaliteet. _It's nonsense  Means something like "quality without money".


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## ger4

^ Thanks! Same in German: _arme Qualität _wouldn't be possible.


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## Red Arrow

It wouldn't be possible in Dutch either.


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## ThomasK

Holger2014 said:


> ^ Thanks! Same in German: _arme Qualität _wouldn't be possible.


Not that word indeed, but we have "van *povere* kwaliteit", in which you recognize the French "pauvre". You can sometimes use that word in this figurative sense: _een povere prestatie_ (performance), _pover resultaat, povere kwaliteit_...


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## ger4

ThomasK said:


> Not that word indeed, but we have "van *povere* kwaliteit", in which you recognize the French "pauvre". You can sometimes use that word in this figurative sense: _een povere prestatie_ (performance), _pover resultaat, povere kwaliteit_...


In German, the adjective _power_ can be used similarly (even though it seems to be a bit dated).


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## danel32

Also in Estonian. Using "kehv" and "vaene" is strongly depends on context. You can say "vaene laps", which means poor child (meaning that something is wrong with that child). Same time "vaene mees" (poor man), could be either without money or ill or just unlucky. "Kehv mees" means that this man is bad in some way. Drunkard, thief or with bad character etc.
All ThomasK examples demands in Estonian word "kehv". Kehv esitus- poor performance, kehv tulemus- poor outcome etc.


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## spindlemoss

No, not in Welsh. "Tlawd" means poor as in having little money whereas "gwael" is used to mean poor quality, or it can mean ill too.


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