So the search engine discriminates against short words, even quotes for a phrase search. Lovely. Ah well.
So, my team lead and I were reviewing an email thread and came across the usage of the phrase “my bad” instead of “my error” or “my mistake” …
When did this phrase pop up? I’ve seen it quite a lot, and it doesn’t quite seem to die.
Well, at the risk my of soul going to hell for such a déclassé response in G.Q.,
…
ah - what hell?
Now, then, I do know this has been discussed before, but I can well believe that those overworked little hamsters didn’t get to it.
SO, I am only saying that , as far as I can recall, the answer had to do with one of thse sporty games, whether basketbal or baseball, or supposed football ( 
) , I don’t know, couch potato that I am.
Really, there are people here who know, so, my reasn for posting is that
if nothing else , try looking for sports-type references, 'cos I think that is where you will find it
and
if nothing else, it brings your question back to recent postings, where you might find these grand knowledgeable people.
(The phrase never seemed to make much sense to me either, me being a furriner, and I think that is why I recall reading a thread about it here)
<tee hee - "why are parrots supposed to be sick - sorry - just making fun f odd sport sayings>
HUH! And I was sure I had remembered to hit “preview”, for once.
I think I’ll go and eat worms. :o
All I can offer you is anecdotal evidence, and not much of it. Sorry.
It seemed to turn up among the black kids in high school (1990-94), maybe in my freshman or sophomore year. All the other kids thought it was cooler than “oops”, it would seem, since it spread pretty quickly. No idea where it came from before that, though.
The first time I heard it was on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It seemed like a useful phrase, so use it I did (and still do). Maybe that’s the case with lots of other people…? Same thing with ‘Big Bad’.
Ditto. I can attest to the expression from around the mid-1980s, though. I specifically recall first hearing it during hotly-contested basketball games at our local recreation center.
“My bad” has an urban, street-wise feel to it. I think it’s probable that us gym rats picked it up from college and pro basketball players.
More anecdotal evidence. I first heard it summer of '94 or '95 in Northern California (I was in Jr. High then). It was definitely used in reference to sports, essentially “calling it” after the fact.
hmmm - I have no idea where it came from, but I always thought it was just a condensed “am I bad”
That’a what I thought too, Flickster. The first time I ever heard it was in Clueless and I thought she was just being coy, like in the baby-voiced, wide-eyed, finger to the lip “Oops! Did I do that?”
My athletic boyfriend at the time laughed at me and told me they’d been saying it on various sports teams he’d played on for as long as he could remember.
My friends and I used it in the mid 70’s.
While it’s almost certainly playground sports lingo, it is only cited in print from 1987. But it obviously goes back further.