I bet you stumbled while you were trying to read this German word. Actually, it’s a Germanism in the English language. And even longer words like these (which is not even long for any Germans) are actually easy to read if you simply take time and take every letter or letter combination by itself. Verschlimmbessern is pronounced approximately vuh-‘shlim-bessurn, which means to disimprove. (Hah! Learned a new English word myself just there!)
What does this mean? Verschlimmbessern is to make something worse while trying to improve it. It is an honest attempt to optimize something but the person fails and creates a debacle instead. Your first thought is probably that it occurs mostly when an amateur tries to create or repair something that is better left to a professional. Such as pruning trees – we see a lot of decapitated trees and bushes around here that have so-called water sprouts, a stress reaction of plants to wrong pruning that makes the plants more prone to sicknesses and creates weaker branches. (Ask any master gardener about this – I was told so by some.) Or trying to repair a hole in a broken pipe or gutter and creating an even bigger hole in trying to mend it.
But there are far more serious examples that make one wonder whether the professionals involved were really professionals. I came across a list of worst art restorations on this website. Now, there is no doubt that something bad has been worsened in the attempt of making it better.
And there are way more subtle impacts of mankind’s attempts at creating something better that, in the end, turns out to create something worse. It’s all a matter of a longer time-frame. In fact, Science Fiction is full of it. Just read up on robotics and AI – the warning has been on the wall for a long time that the human workforce might be replaced. Or the growing resistance of antibiotics – something that was meant to heal becomes something dangerous. The use of herbicides is killing off pollinators, and therefore impacts the food chain for other creatures.
Verschlimmbessern always happens in the best of intentions and ends in the worst outcomes. Like the roundabout that was built near a former home of mine. Guess what happened! It was so small and inconspicuous, that quite a number of cars whose drivers were not familiar with the new architectural structure drove right into the center where they stranded with a totaled car. So much for avoiding accidents and related traffic jams.
Verschlimmbessern probably happens far more often in the greater picture than through our own hands in our private lives. The worst individual Verschlimmbesserung I can think of, by the way, is a lie to cover up something. First, it makes the liar uncomfortable (unless they are habitual ones), and second, it doesn’t mend the situation. In fact, it makes it worse when the truth surfaces. In this case, the best intent is that of self-preservation at the cost of damage to others. Now, I guess that is some food for thought … Have I verschlimmbessert your day?
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