Where does “какой-никакой” come from?
какой-никакой (Russian) comes from Russian никако́й, from Russian ни, from Old East Slavic ни, from Proto-Slavic ni, from Proto-Indo-European nēy, from Proto-Slavic kogъda, from Proto-Slavic gъda.
какой-никакой (Russian): at least some sort of
Definitions
- at least some sort of
Ancestry of “какой-никакой”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russian | никако́й | not any of possible variants, no, none; (in a negative context) whatever, whatsoever, absolutely |
| 2 | Russian | ни | neither, nor; not a; whatever, however |
| 3 | Old East Slavic | ни | nor, neither |
| 4 | Proto-Slavic | ni | neither, nor; not even |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | nēy | — |
| 6 | Proto-Slavic | kogъda | when |
| 7 | Proto-Slavic | gъda | — |