proverb · Words worth keeping
Where bad's the best, naught must be the choice.
Where bad's the best, naught must be the choice.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
When every available option is poor, choosing the best may still leave a poor result. The saying recognises a constrained comparison, inviting scrutiny of the options without proving that no improvement or alternative can be found.
Example
A club finds that each available meeting room has an access problem and asks whether another date would make a suitable venue possible.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
Bad’s the best imagines a set of choices in which even the leading option is unsatisfactory. Naught must be the choice gives that situation a blunt conclusion: relative superiority does not make the selected thing good in itself. The proverb can help explain why a decision remains uncomfortable after careful comparison. It does not establish that the listed options are complete, or that accepting one is inevitable. A useful response checks whether the choice can be delayed, changed or supported differently. If a decision must be made, its limits can be acknowledged openly instead of describing the least poor option as an unqualified success.
When to use it
Use it when the leading option remains inadequate despite being better than the others.
Keep in mind
Look for omitted alternatives or ways to change the conditions; a constrained choice is not automatically unavoidable.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English