english
1
general::
Phrase(s): after a fashion in a manner that is just barely adequate; poorly. • He thanked me—after a fashion—for my help. • Oh, yes, I can swim, after a fashion.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Also, after a sort. Somehow or other; not very well, as in John can read music, after a fashion, or He managed to paint the house after a sort. The first phrase, in which fashion means "a manner of doing something," has been so used since the mid-1800s, when it replaced in a fashion. The variant dates from the mid-1500s. Also see IN A WAY; (SOMEHOW) OR OTHER.
American Heritage Idioms