half-baked
badly prepared
TRANSLATION
half-baked = unausgegoren, unausgereift, nicht zu Ende gedacht --- GOOGLE INDEX half-baked: approximately 9,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Why Amazon Is Willing to Launch a HALF-BAKED Music Service
(BusinessWeek magazine)
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His proposal to inject more competition into the banking sector suffered from being HALF-BAKED.
(The Guardian)
(BusinessWeek magazine)
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His proposal to inject more competition into the banking sector suffered from being HALF-BAKED.
(The Guardian)
Did you
know?
half-baked
adjective phrase
- not fully thought through; lacking a sound basis
(Oxford English Dictionary)
---
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term "half-baked" was used as far back as the early 17th century, at least in the literal sense of bread or cake that is not fully baked. In the mid-19th century, the first recorded instances of the figurative sense - not thought through - can be found.
Half-baked is a strong word to use on a personal basis however. Many people feel offended by this expression. Referring to something in general without directing the comment at a particular person is generally acceptable (The city came up with a half-baked plan to expand the subway system).
The idea of cooking-related idioms is not half-baked however. Below are several more examples that are very useful in everyday conversations.
- too many cooks spoil the broth = too many people trying to manage something will simply mess it up (We need one person to take care of this issue. Too many cooks spoil the broth.)
- to stew = to be annoyed or angry (She's been stewing about his comments for the past hour)
- to simmer down = to be calm (She simmered down after he apologised about his comments)
- to cook something up = to organise or plan something (Let's cook something up for the weekend)
- cook the books = to record false information in a company's financial accounts (Rumour has it they've been cooking their books to make their earnings appear better)
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SYNONYMS
boneheaded, cockamamie, foolish, harebrained, ill-advised, ill-considered, nonsensical, stupid, unreasonable, unsound, unreasonable
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Why are so many of these large infrastructure projects based on half-baked plans?"
adjective phrase
- not fully thought through; lacking a sound basis
(Oxford English Dictionary)
---
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term "half-baked" was used as far back as the early 17th century, at least in the literal sense of bread or cake that is not fully baked. In the mid-19th century, the first recorded instances of the figurative sense - not thought through - can be found.
Half-baked is a strong word to use on a personal basis however. Many people feel offended by this expression. Referring to something in general without directing the comment at a particular person is generally acceptable (The city came up with a half-baked plan to expand the subway system).
The idea of cooking-related idioms is not half-baked however. Below are several more examples that are very useful in everyday conversations.
- too many cooks spoil the broth = too many people trying to manage something will simply mess it up (We need one person to take care of this issue. Too many cooks spoil the broth.)
- to stew = to be annoyed or angry (She's been stewing about his comments for the past hour)
- to simmer down = to be calm (She simmered down after he apologised about his comments)
- to cook something up = to organise or plan something (Let's cook something up for the weekend)
- cook the books = to record false information in a company's financial accounts (Rumour has it they've been cooking their books to make their earnings appear better)
---
SYNONYMS
boneheaded, cockamamie, foolish, harebrained, ill-advised, ill-considered, nonsensical, stupid, unreasonable, unsound, unreasonable
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Why are so many of these large infrastructure projects based on half-baked plans?"
