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What's the meaning of backwards here? Does it mean it's going towards a worse state?

English is hands down the most comprehensive and efficient language. The language of an advanced civilization

lol I know you are goofing around but after learning Spanish and being able to speak it fluently for almost 15+ years now, English is such a backwards piece of s***.

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    There's more than one definition in the dictionary. Did you find an alternative that fit here?
    – Mitch
    Commented May 27, 2012 at 1:00
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    There's one similar to TimLymington's answer "moving in a direction that means that no progress is being made".
    – Theo
    Commented May 27, 2012 at 2:55

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If it does mean that, the commenter doesn't know as much about English as he imagines; backwards in that sense can only be applied to a verb. Backward would fit, as the opposite of advanced; whether that can properly be applied to a language (as opposed to a creole) is probably beyond the scope of this site.

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  • As the existence of the quotation indicates, there are people who use "backwards" as an adjective. It's common enough to be listed in Collins (although the example is used in a different sense: "Without so much as a backwards glance, he steered her towards the car"). Macmillan also lists it as an adjective as well as an adverb.
    – herisson
    Commented May 19, 2017 at 0:07
  • @sumelic: I don't disagree about a glance backwards/ a backwards glance, which is why I said "in that sense".
    – Tim Lymington
    Commented May 19, 2017 at 8:26
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I'm not so sure I buy the "backwards to a worse state" theory. It is very common to hear people talk about a particular place or group of people as "backwards." It is not, in my experience, typically used as a relational adjective.

The meaning is very similar to "provincial" though I'm not sure of the origin. There are other variants that I expect are related, especially when discussing geographical locations. For example:

One critic who gave the Manet show highest marks was the New York Times's John Canaday, who then went on to blast New York as a "cultural backwater" because the show would not be seen at any of its museums.

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    +1 for an alternative to "…to a worse state." I have definitely heard it used to mean "provincial" as well. Wordnik also gives one option as "adj. Clumsy, inept, or inefficient," which could be the intended meaning here.
    – Cameron
    Commented May 26, 2012 at 19:51
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In this example “backwards” is used as an adjective, and therefore incorrectly. “Backwards” is an adverb (roughly, modifies anything but nouns), “backward” can be used both as an adverb (thus, safer bet, if less expressive), and as an adjective (modifier or qualifier of nouns and noun phrases).

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Look at the second case under entry #3 here:

towards or into a worse state

It means that, after having learned Spanish, English looks like going back to a worse state. Exactly as you imagined.

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  • ha. English learned Spanish, to its (English's) detriment?
    – Bobbi Bennett
    Commented May 26, 2012 at 21:42
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    @BobbiBennett: What do you mean?
    – CesarGon
    Commented May 27, 2012 at 0:36
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    @Cesar: your last sentence, as written, means that the English language learned Spanish and suffered from it. Time to re-check the rules on word order, perhaps?
    – Tim Lymington
    Commented May 27, 2012 at 11:27
  • @BobbiBennett: Oh, I see. Thank you. I am fixing it now.
    – CesarGon
    Commented May 27, 2012 at 11:31
  • Well, it was ambiguous. Any rational person would read it the way you intended. I am sorry if my amusement was at your expense.
    – Bobbi Bennett
    Commented May 27, 2012 at 14:06

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