худо-бедно

• ХУДО-БЕДНО coll

[AdvP; Invar; adv]

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1. used to show that sth. is done less smoothly, completely etc than desired:

- somehow (manage to...);

- somehow or other.

     ♦ Друзей и знакомых у Александра Николаевича было множество, один помог ему достать кирпич, другой - доски, третий - цемент, и так, худо-бедно, за два года дом был построен. Aleksandr Nikolaevich had many friends and acquaintances; one helped him to get bricks, another-lumber, a third-cement, and in that way, over the course of two years, his house somehow or other got built.

     ♦ "Я сюда [в лагерь] на дармовые харчи не просился, - ответил зэк. - Я на заводе работал. Худо-бедно, а себя и свою семью сам кормил. Какой же я тунеядец?" (Марченко 1). [context transl] "I didn't ask to come here and get my grub free," replied the con. "I used to work in a factory - the pay was rotten but still I used to keep myself and my family, so how does that make me a parasite?" (1a).

2. [usu. foll. by a quantit NP]

⇒ not less than:

- at (the very) least;

- as a bare minimum. Ремонт обойдётся нам, худо-бедно, в пятнадцать тысяч рублей. The repairs will cost us about fifteen thousand rubles at the very least.