Entry · catalog no. 0006
bad
/ bæd /BAD
adjective · AAVE · historic
✓ Verified
1.
Excellent, impressive, or formidable — an intentional reversal of the standard sense.
“That’s a bad ride. · She bad, and she know it.”
Origin & Attribution
A long-documented semantic inversion attested in Black speech since at least the 19th century — saying the opposite of the plain sense on purpose. Canonized in pop culture by Michael Jackson’s “Bad” (1987).
19th c.
Ironic reversal attested in Black speech
20th c.
Standard in how we talk
1987
Michael Jackson, “Bad”
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
AAVE · historic
Spoken by
Black speakers, long-standing
$BADThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Standard117 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
82/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1870
in the culture
Recorded here
2024
point of first record
Mainstream crossover
1987
search interest spikes
Outside acknowledgement
1990
Webster’s / Oxford
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Smitherman, ‘Talkin and Testifyin’
text · cited
■
+ Cite a sourceMichael Jackson, “Bad” (1987)
audio · cited