bottom of the line
- noun
:
modelo más básico
- We couldn't afford the latest gadget, so we settled for the bottom of the line model.
Examples
-
Even the bottom of the line computer can handle basic tasks efficiently.
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This model is the bottom of the line in terms of features.
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He's not flashy; he always buys the bottom of the line version to save money.
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You really get what you pay for with the bottom of the line products.
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The store offers a bottom-of-the-line model for budget-conscious customers.
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She decided to buy the bottom-of-the-line laptop since she only needed it for basic tasks.
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For his first car, he chose a bottom-of-the-line sedan that was affordable and reliable.
Synonyms
9
6.6
The worst choices left after better ones are gone
1
6.1
A thing that costs little and is low in quality
Antonyms
How High-Quality
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase composes 'bottom' (the lowest) with 'line' (a product line/family) in a straightforward way, so a learner who knows both constituent meanings can infer 'the lowest item in the product line' i.e., lowest quality or least expensive. This spatial-to-ranking metaphor (bottom = lowest rank) is common cross-linguistically and follows regular compositional patterns, making the expression immediately comprehensible to B1 learners who know the words.
Etymology
Bottom of the line comes from the image of items arranged in a row or list, with the best at the top and the worst at the bottom of the line. So it came to mean the 'cheapest' or 'lowest quality' item in a range.