# Help me parse "Breaking Bad" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109 "2013-08-25T05:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/21 "2013-08-25T23:06:15Z")
I’ve a baseball fan for many years, and I’ve never heard of a pitch being said to “break bad.” (And while a pitch can break sideways or down, it can’t break high.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/22 "2013-08-25T23:08:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’ve a baseball fan for many years, and I’ve never heard of a pitch being said to “break bad.” (And while a pitch can break sideways or down, it can’t break high.) Okay, fine on the “break high.” But otherwise, I don’t see your point. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/23 "2013-08-25T23:13:54Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Okay, fine on the “break high.” But otherwise, I don’t see your point. The term doesn’t originate in sports, as you propose. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/24 "2013-08-26T00:33:42Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The term doesn’t originate in sports, as you propose. Your statement doesn’t make that argument. I said that the term “breaking” fir a change on trajectory originated in sports. That doesn’t require a showing that a pitch in baseball can “break bad.” Take “breaking” from sports and give it a metaphorical meaning that can now be modified by other “directions.” It’s not that complicated. Even if it was used in physics before sports, I’d still guess that it became colloquial through sports. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/25 "2013-08-26T03:04:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I said that the term “breaking” fir a change on trajectory originated in sports. Your post said “it”, which implied that it referred to the entire phrase rather than just “breaking.” And “breaking bad” doesn’t have any connection to baseball. In any case, you haven’t provided any evidence that either “breaking” or “breaking bad” originated in sports. “Breaking away” for a change in direction may have preceded any use in baseball. As for pool/billiards, a “bad break” just means a break that doesn’t put any balls in a good position for a shot; it doesn’t imply any change in direction. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/26 "2013-08-26T04:17:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Your post said “it”, which implied that it referred to the entire phrase rather than just “breaking.” And “breaking bad” doesn’t have any connection to baseball. > > In any case, you haven’t provided any evidence that either “breaking” or “breaking bad” originated in sports. “Breaking away” for a change in direction may have preceded any use in baseball. Of course I haven’t provided any evidence. But your objection doesn’t actually do anything to disturb my hypothesis. Yes, by “It” I meant the meaning of the term “break.” I thought it was fairly obvious. The “bad” part was further colloquial development, in my surmise. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/27 "2013-08-26T04:41:04Z")
As soon as I heard the title I knew exactly what they meant, never heard it before but it makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/28 "2013-08-26T07:10:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think there’s also a subtle reference to bad breaks. The idea is that the characters didn’t just decide to do the things they did - they’re also reacting to the things that happen to them. Like Walter White getting terminal cancer. I had never heard the phrase before, but that was my immediate take on it, too. In the slang I’m familiar with, we often say someone is ‘shooting bad’ if they are having bad luck, or doing badly. I figured this was another way of saying that. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/29 "2013-08-26T07:18:57Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Urban Dictionary: “Comes from the American Southwest slang phrase “to break bad,” meaning to challenge conventions, to defy authority and to skirt the edges of the law.” I never heard that phrase when I lived in Albuquerque or any of the rest of my considerable time spent in the Southwest. That was decades ago though, so I figured it was just some new slang that appeared since I left the US. But this is the first time I heard it was specifically Southwest. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/30 "2013-08-26T22:29:55Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:3, topic:667109”] Thanks, **Clockwork** , but do you know where it comes from? That still doesn’t make sense to me. Is it “break” as in “I was chasing the calf but it broke left just as I tried to rope it”? [/QUOTE] > [@moriah](#): > > The meaning of break is in the sense of veering off in a different direction suddenly, as in “breaking away,” or “breaking to the right.” > > If someone suddenly goes to the bad side, they broke bad. Okay, this seems to be the consensus of the thread, and it makes sense to me in that context. Thanks for the help, all. ---
**Author:** ![Onyerbike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onyerbike/32/5402_2.png) [@Onyerbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onyerbike)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/31 "2015-02-16T11:22:12Z")
I thought ‘breaking bad’ referred to the practice of breaking up a sheet of crystalline meth after a successful cook into little bits for individual sale. ---
**Author:** ![Onyerbike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onyerbike/32/5402_2.png) [@Onyerbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onyerbike)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/32 "2015-02-16T11:30:48Z")
ABORT — ABORT — Oh god what have I done? I’ve created a zombie. So so Sorry guys and Mods. I should definately _not_ drink, lurk and post at the same time. Worse than drunk dialing, ugh. Please continue on ABORTING FOR YOU LIVES! Nobody is safe. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/33 "2015-02-16T21:16:18Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > “Breaking Badly” would mean that you are not very good at breaking. “Breaking Bad” would (does) mean that you are breaking in the direction of badness. > > “Breaking” in this context appears to be a synonym for “turning.” > > EDIT: Geez, do other things while composing and get double-ninja’ed. Unrelated, but I cringe when I hear someone say they “Felt badly” about a situation. What? That made your hands stop working? ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/34 "2015-02-16T22:59:25Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I had no idea what it meant until Jesse said it in the show. It makes sense in context. Something along the lines of (very paraphrased) “I’m supposed to believe you’re just going to break bad at 60 years old after being a teacher all your life” I happen to have the direct quote handy: \*\*Jesse: \*\*Man, some straight like you, giant stick up his ass, all of a sudden at age, what, 60, he’s just gonna break bad? **Walter** : I’m 50. **Jesse** : It’s weird is all, okay? It doesn’t compute. Listen, if you’ve gone crazy or something I mean, if you’ve gone crazy or depressed, I’m just saying that’s something I need to know about. Okay? I mean, that affects me. **Walter** : I am _awake_. \*\*Jesse: \*\*What??? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109/35 "2015-02-17T03:22:55Z")
> [@Gary\_Robson](#): > > I’m hearing a lot about the series “Breaking Bad” lately, and I know (roughly) what it is about. I cannot, however, make any sense out of the name. It just doesn’t parse as English to me. “Breaking Badly” parses, but doesn’t have anything to do with meth. > > What does the name mean? How can I interpret it to make sense as an English phrase? First thing, you need to realize that meth dealers do not necessarily observe the highest standards of grammar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-breaking-bad/667109.md?page=1)