# Is "my bad" a new expression? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628 "2000-09-26T17:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/1 "2000-09-26T17:19:15Z")
I’ve only started reading/hearing it in the last 3 or 4 years… Clearly it’s equivalent to “my mistake”, but is this a new internet shorthand or an old expression? When I saw it in print, I was thinking, “Your bad what? That doesn’t make any sense!” Recently I’ve been hearing people say it on occasion. (Incidentally, what’s wrong with “my mistake” anyway?) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/2 "2000-09-26T17:33:10Z")
When I was in 7th or 8th grade I first heard this expression from various classmates and people ahead of me. I graduated from 8th grade in June of 1995, so it can’t be less than 5 or so years old. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/3 "2000-09-26T17:35:18Z")
Don’t know how old it is for sure, but in high school we used to say “my bad” if you screwed up in sports especially. I graduated in 89, so it’s at least that old. As for what’s wrong with “my mistake”, well, nothing. There’s nothing wrong with “how are you” but people still say “what’s up”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skribbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Skribbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skribbler)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/4 "2000-09-26T17:36:02Z")
It’s been around for a little over 10 years, starting as a cutsey, feel good, semi-yuppie phrase used in corporations by ‘suits’. It came in around the time that everyone in business talked ‘Computerease,’ you know, ‘lets interface over this,’ ‘I want to network with you,’ and ‘lets start a file and boot it up and see what we have.’ (Yuck!) Right around the time corporations started shoving execs into ‘bonding’ weekends, ‘team training retreats’, dropping the ‘suits’ and spending $500 to look casual in jeans, sandals, and pull over shirts, removing cubical walls and creating ‘creative’ space in the work areas and stuff like that. (They just never got around to dropping the cost of their products for regular folk who used them.) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/5 "2000-09-26T17:43:14Z")
Singing off-key at top of lungs: My Mistake … I have made a terrible mistake … I’ve always taken it to have originated as a verbal twist on “my goodness”, but there may be some origin I’m not aware of. I think it’s one of the more annoying verbal affectations to have surfaced in recent years, and I HOPE it doesn’t become ingrained. If I can hijack this a bit, where did “da bomb” start? I think that one is dying out, and I kind of LIKE it. ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/6 "2000-09-26T19:06:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jk1245 \* > I graduated in 89, so it’s at least that old. I’ll second that. “da bomb” started in California. I first started hearing this term in 1996 in the early days of Austin’s boom and a lot of Californians (and their hipper-than-thou kids) were moving in. The NSA’s computers must hate this one! ---
**Author:** ![Starbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Starbury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbury)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/7 "2000-09-26T19:35:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jmullaney \* > \*\* > > “da bomb” started in California. I first started hearing this term in 1996 \*\* FWIW: I don’t think this started in California…alot of Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall d.j.'s used this phrase in the early 90’s. I think American rappers picked it up from this, and was then picked up by American kids. The first time I saw it used by an American was in the movie ‘Juice’. ---
**Author:** ![darkcool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@darkcool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darkcool)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/8 "2000-09-26T19:35:20Z")
I caught the tail end of a segment on the ‘Today’ show about new words that had made their way into the new dictionary. The representative told Matt that “my bad” had been around for over 15 years qualifiing it for the new edition. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/9 "2000-09-26T20:47:08Z")
Yabob: The “My Mistake…” singing reference–“Fawlty Towers”. Am I right? Seems like I remember Manuel doing this in one episode… ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/10 "2000-09-26T21:38:36Z")
I first heard it in 8th grade, back in 1983, from the Marching and Maneuvering (M&M) for my high school band. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/11 "2000-09-26T22:33:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Yabob: > > The “My Mistake…” singing reference–“Fawlty Towers”. Am I right? Seems like I remember Manuel doing this in one episode… Monty Python. One of their innumerable restuarant sketches. ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/12 "2000-09-26T22:46:44Z")
1. Playing hoops wit’ some bruthahs, I was wide open for a short jumper, homie fired a pass at me wide and out of bounds, and he replied “My bad.” Been using it ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/13 "2000-09-26T23:02:24Z")
My friends and I used “my bad” in the late 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2000, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/14 "2000-09-26T23:38:55Z")
So, does the SDMBer who heard/used the phrase “my bad” the earliest win a prize? ---
**Author:** ![Skribbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Skribbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skribbler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/15 "2000-09-27T00:38:45Z")
However ‘cool’ has been around since the 50s. _COOL!_ ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/16 "2000-09-28T07:20:01Z")
Like many nifty phrases, “my bad” came from the US Military. It’s probably been around at least since the '50’s. It’s used usually as a casual way of taking the blame for something that is (a) your fault after all, and (b) nothing earth-shattering. Often used when someone of higher rank needs to make amends to someone of lower rank ex: “Oops, sorry Sargeant. My bad.” “Understood, Sir. No problem.” Man, I’m just a font of obscure knowledge tonight… ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/17 "2000-09-28T12:14:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Like many nifty phrases, “my bad” came from the US Military. Like “fubar” and “snafu”? Does “my bad” stand for something colorful like “Mistake? You’ve Been A Dipshit” ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/18 "2000-09-28T13:22:14Z")
I’m with Mr. Blue Sky. We were using the expression “my bad” back in high school in the mid 70’s. I always thought it was gheto-speak. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/19 "2000-09-28T13:33:26Z")
I’ve only recently heard this in the last few months by an engineer I work with. It sounds so stupid! “I’m bad” would make more sense. I guess if it’s been around so long I must live an extremely sheltered life. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628/20 "2000-09-28T14:36:23Z")
Was the expression popularized by _South Park_ (TV and movie), perhaps? It was said twice in the movie. I never heard it before then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-bad-a-new-expression/34628.md?page=2)