pure schlock
- noun
- /pjʊr ʃlɑk/
- Informal
:
pura basura
- The film was nothing but pure schlock, with cliched characters and a poorly written plot.
Examples
-
During Oskar's tear-jerking ending monologue, I want to hear Mike say, "This is pure schlock!"
Blog text (29) -
Critics dismissed the novel as pure schlock, failing to offer any original ideas or depth.
-
They spent hours watching pure schlock on television, laughing at the ridiculous reality shows.
Synonyms
102
3.1
Words or writing that have no value
34
8.9
A thing of very poor quality that is useless
11
4.7
Something thought to be worthless or of very low quality
7
9.4
Cheap things that break easily
7
9.9
Poor-quality items that are not worth buying
1
9.9
A thing that is of very poor quality and not worth the money
A thing that is very bad and of low quality like a book or film
Something of very poor quality not worth buying
How Good
14
4.4
487
2.3
1
3.6
- Slang
7
9.4
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'pure' here functions as a simple intensifier and 'schlock' means cheap or poorly made material; combined they yield the obvious meaning 'completely low-quality or worthless material'. This follows a regular intensifier + noun composition, so a B1 learner who already knows both constituent words would be able to derive the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Pure schlock comes from a Yiddish word 'schlock' for cheap, low-quality goods, so picture a market stall full of junk. The word pure just makes that image stronger, so pure schlock means something is 'completely worthless' or very bad.