Job Discussion Forums

fladude · Joined: 02 Feb 2009 Posts: 432

I'm not surprised that the particular phrase is on the net now, if you search for it. But I hardly think the web tells us when it went into usage. I believe the saying has been around in the prison population at least since the early 90s. I know that I ran a web search for it when I first heard the expression and got zero hits. Now almost a decade later, its on the net... IF you search for it. But when I first heard that expression I had no clue what the guy was talking about and couldn't find any references to it. I actually visited the guy in jail and asked him. Realistically now that the expression has made it to popular culture, it is probably not being used anymore except by want to be's as that largely defeats the purpose of criminal slang.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 9:55 pm Post subject:

This reminds me a little of Yogi Berra's quote about Ruggeri's, a St. Louis restaurant:

"Oh, nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."

Regards,
John

HLJHLJ · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 1218 Location: Ecuador

Perilla · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong

Tks for the comments - interesting stuff. I've not heard "my bad" used in spoken English - presumably as I'm English and I don't think the expression has taken hold in the UK - nor among English speakers in HK. Hopefully it never will. I had originally assumed that "my bad" suggested the speaker/writer couldn't think of the appropriate word to complete the phrase - or couldn't be bothered.

It would be interesting to look at which slang phrases have been most successful at being incorporated into other global English varieties ...

Zero · Joined: 08 Sep 2004 Posts: 1402

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:52 pm Post subject:

Dear Zero,

Maybe you guys were all trend-setters:

"my bad/it's my bad - "It's my fault/mistake" (an acknowledgement of blame) - this is from US college/university campus 1980s slang, (or perhaps 1970s from reactions below - let me know your earliest recollections please), in which 'bad' means mistake or fault (that caused a bad thing), hence 'it's my bad', or more succinctly, 'my bad'. It's simply a shortening of 'The bad thing that happened was my fault, sorry'. The word bad in this case has evolved to mean 'mistake which caused a problem'. It's another example of the tendency for language to become abbreviated for more efficient (and stylised) communications. In this case the abbreviation is also a sort of teenage code, which of course young people everywhere use because they generally do not wish to adopt lifestyle and behaviour advocated by parents, teachers, authority, etc., and so develop their own style and behaviour, including language. For new meanings of words to evolve there needs to be a user-base of people that understands the new meanings. "

my bad/it's my bad - "It's my fault/mistake" (an acknowledgement of blame) - this is from US college/university campus 1980s slang, (or perhaps 1970s from reactions below - let me know your earliest recollections please), in which 'bad' means mistake or fault (that caused a bad thing), hence 'it's my bad', or more succinctly, 'my bad'. It's simply a shortening of 'The bad thing that happened was my fault, sorry'. The word bad in this case has evolved to mean 'mistake which caused a problem'. It's another example of the tendency for language to become abbreviated for more efficient (and stylised) communications. In this case the abbreviation is also a sort of teenage code, which of course young people everywhere use because they generally do not wish to adopt lifestyle and behaviour advocated by parents, teachers, authority, etc., and so develop their own style and behaviour, including language. For new meanings of words to evolve there needs to be a user-base of people that understands the new meanings.

http://www.businessballs.com/clichesorigins.htm

Regards,
John

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:55 pm Post subject:

I want to coin a phrase. Howzabout 'my worse!'?

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:58 pm Post subject:

Dear Sasha,

That may be "your worst."

Regards,
John

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:59 pm Post subject:

Dear Johnslat

But is my worse worser than your worse?

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject:

Dear Sasha,

You are the wurst; I'm just baloney.

Regards,
John

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:04 pm Post subject:

Dear Johnslat

Provoked a rye smile from me there...

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:27 pm Post subject:

Dear Sasha,

Say "cheese" (you do believe in cheeses, don't you?)

Regards,
John

Lamentations · Joined: 10 Sep 2010 Posts: 41

I recall being apprehended by the police in Orlando, Florida, USA several years ago.

All I did was try to open the door of a car that looked just like mine after stepping out of a tavern. The next thing I knew, I was under arrest, even though I was just walking, by a cop that said "My bad." 1997 or 1998. The details are fuzzy now.

I clearly recall her "slang" and wondered - what has become of the world? Cops who can't speak proper English are now putting me in jail!

Unfortunately, my "public defender lawyer" couldn't speak that well either and I was released from the "insane asylum" a week later. Baker Act.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Mental_Health_Act

According to the above link - they owe me 3 days. They were very interesting though!

As John Slat or whoever typed - Send me a lawyer, money and guns. Eddy Money.

Fortunately, we didn't need the guns.

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 8:03 pm Post subject:

Dear Lamentations,

Ah, Florida cops. I got arrested one night in Hollywood, FL (way before "my bad" was born) for "Hindering a police officer in the performance of his duities by failing to have a valid I.D. on my person."

Spent the night in the slammer - the judge threw out the charge the next day.

Regards,
John

The song's by the late, great Warren Zevon