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dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

recently on holiday back in the Uk I heard this quite often. I have also read it in the written form.....gasp.... on our forums. Where does this originate from and are any other adjectives used in this way?
Personally I think it is wrong. What do you think?

antonia v · Joined: 27 Mar 2005 Posts: 49

You've lost me. Used adjectives as nouns? What adjectives? "my bad-"? I'm clueless. What are you talking about?

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

when people make a mistake. rather than saying 'oops my fault/ mistake' they say 'my bad'

valley_girl · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:41 am Post subject:

This is nothing new. Think Grimm's fairytales ("hello, my pretty") or even The Lord of the Ring ("my precious"). I think it's merely a matter of making inferences.

My pretty what? My pretty girl/woman/maiden.

My precious what? My precious ring.

My bad what? My bad mistake/move/assumption.

It's the evolution of the language, my friend. Not only can we not stop it, but we must help our students to understand it as well.

"Teacher, what does 'my bad' mean?" Laughing

Shaman · Joined: 06 Apr 2003 Posts: 446 Location: Hammertown

I used it on the forum recently. I guess that was my... faux pas. Wink

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

well Mush,

Must be some geographical or social differences 'cos I've never heard it.

Maybe it originated in one of those kids programs? They can be a surreal experience when you're on somebody's sofa following a night of mild inebriation and you come round to early morning kids' TV.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

I didn't discover 'my bad' until a trip to Sears Tower in Chicago some time ago. A young kid running past accidently bumped into me and without breaking stride, turned quickly and uttered the half-apology.

I'm told it hails from US sports where players in practice or competition are unlikely to stop and apologize formally for mistakes made.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

It�s all about context and awareness. If students know that it�s technically not correct, and it is really informal, I will let them use it.

I think I actually said "my bad" in the office a couple of days ago. I was really surprised to hear it come out of my own mouth. I had thought that my use of informal language was somehow stuck in an �80s time warp--a lot of "awesome", "dude," etc.

d

teacheringreece · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 79

Adjectives are used in nouns in this way in a lot of languages. There's no particular reason why it might not start becoming more widespread in English and eventually become standard.

Fatcat · Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 92 Location: Athens, Georgia

People started using that when I was in high school, about 10 years ago. I don't hear it as much anymore, but enough to where it doesn't phase me if I do. And I do catch myself saying it from time to time.