My bad
What's the meaning of the phrase 'My bad'?
My mistake - I'm to blame.
What's the origin of the phrase 'My bad'?
This slang term originated in about 1970. At that time, that is, pre the widespread use of the Internet, slang terms often circulated at street level for many years before being adopted by anyone who felt inclined to write them down. That's clearly not the case any longer of course and any word or phrase that is widely known is datable quite precisely via website logs.
The first known public use of the expression is from an exchange on the Ed Sullivan Show, June 1956. Louis Armstrong wished Sullivan a happy birthday and then corrected himself, saying:
"Happy Aniversary. My bad."
There's no evidence to show that Armstrong coined the phrase. It's more likely that it was street or musician's slang before it was used on TV.
Shakespeare used the term with something like the current meaning, in his Sonnet 112:
Your love and pity doth the impression fill
Which vulgar scandal stamp'd upon my brow;
For what care I who calls me well or ill,
So you o'er-green my bad, my good allow?
That's clearly just coincidence, and it's hardly surprising that such a fragmentary phrase would appear in a large body of work like Shakespeare's. It's also a world away from pick-up basketball, which is an informal street sport where players frequently call out to each other (trash talking), and is a well-known source of street lang.
'My bad' came into widespread popular use in the mid to late-1990s in the USA via the 1995 movie “Clueless”. This starred Alicia Silverstone and contains what seems to have been the first use of the phrase in the mainstream media. The 1994 'Green revision pages' for the movie script has a scene with Alicia Silverstone's character learning to drive:
"Cher swerves - to avoid killing a person on a bicycle. Cher: Whoops, my bad."
Although a street term, it is virtually synonymous with the earlier Latin phrase, 'mea culpa'. It doubtless has as little of a direct descent from this as it does from Shakespeare's Sonnet 112.
'My bad' has gained that unequivocal accolade - imitation. In REM's 2004 song 'Leaving New York' there is this verse, which as you see includes 'my proud':
You might have laughed if I told you
You might have hidden a frown
You might have succeeded in changing me
I might have been turned around
It's easier to leave than to be left behind
Leaving was never my proud
Leaving New York, never easy
I saw the light fading out
The Doonesbury cartoon strip for 14th June 2006 included this:
"Okay, I'm bitter that I have to support myself! There I said it! My brave."
See other phrases that were coined in the USA.
FAQs
A literal English translation of the Latin mea culpa, “my bad” is an informal American English expression which means, “it's my fault, I didn't the wrong thing, I'm sorry, I apologize,” etc. “My bad” has been around a while, but was then used my Louis Armstrong on the Ed Sullivan show in 1956.
Who was the first person to say my bad? ›
Some brief research shows that my bad has been around since at least the 1980s. It seems to have arisen out of urban American culture. Some bloggers have attributed the expression to Manut Bol, an NBA star in the 80s who immigrated from Africa and whose native tongue was Dinka.
Is "my bad" grammatically correct? ›
"My bad", is wrong because 'bad' is not a noun. What is actually meant is some mistake or error you made. And in English, 'bad' can only describe things, it's not a word that can be used as a noun. For instance, you wouldn't ever say, "You need to change your bad".
What is my bad short for? ›
my fault or mistake. See full dictionary entry for bad.
What does my bad actually mean? ›
US informal. used for saying that you accept that you are wrong or that something is your fault: "You brought the wrong book." "Okay, my bad. I'll go get it." SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases.
Who came up with the expression my bad? ›
BASKETBALL LEGEND: Manute Bol coined the term 'my bad.
Why do people keep saying "my bad"? ›
This slippery phrase is a popular way of admitting a mistake, and apologizing for that mistake at the same time -- without offering any apology at all. You've got to admire the efficiency of it!
What does "my bad" mean from a guy? ›
Yes, "my bad" is a proper English phrase. It is an apology; when you say "my bad", you're basically saying, "I admit a mistake" or "my fault, sorry for that". Wiktionary says: (colloquial) (idiomatic) My fault; mea culpa.
Did Manute Bol create the phrase "my bad"? ›
All of this makes it unlikely that Bol was the first to come up with "my bad" when he began playing in the NBA in the late '80s, or even in his earlier collegiate days. Nonetheless, his natural ebullience must have done much to popularize the expression among his fellow ballplayers, despite the language gap.
What to reply when someone says "my bad"? ›
No problem / No worries / Don't worry about it. It happens. I forgive you / You're forgiven. I appreciate your apology. / I accept your apology.
Ruder than apologizing, but with the same meaning: a flippant apology. "You just spilled y. As usual, Urban Diction has a good definition for this slang: Urban Dictionary: My bad. A way of admitting a mistake, and apologizing for that mistake, without actually apologizing.
Is my bad American or British? ›
I am apologising – that's what 'my bad' means – it's an American English phrase that we use sometimes to mean we accept responsibility for a mistake. Well, that's good to know.
What does MB mean when texting? ›
MB means "my bad" in text. Whether used in a text or on Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok, someone writing "MB" is taking the blame for something or apologizing in either a serious or playful way.
How do I say "my bad" in a formal way? ›
6 Unique Ways to Say “Sorry” When You Make a Mistake
- 1 My apologies. My apologies is another word for “I'm sorry.” It's rather formal, so it's fine for business contexts. ...
- 2 Pardon/pardon me/I beg your pardon. Pardon is a verb which means to allow as a courtesy. ...
- 3 Excuse me. ...
- 4 Mea culpa. ...
- 5 Oops/whoops. ...
- 6 My bad.
A bad boy is a man who isn't afraid to break the rules. This rugged rebel, staring stoically off in the distance in his Aviators atop his Harley, is often seen as sexually desirable in popular media—though he'll probably break your heart if you date him.
What is "my bad" in UK slang? ›
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we're finding out about the phrase 'my bad' which is slang for saying 'my fault, my mistake, I'm to blame' – but Rob just can't bring himself to say 'sorry'!
Where did the word you originate from? ›
You comes from the Proto-Germanic demonstrative base *juz-, *iwwiz from Proto-Indo-European *yu- (second-person plural pronoun). Old English had singular, dual, and plural second-person pronouns. The dual form was lost by the twelfth century, and the singular form was lost by the early 1600s.
The first known public use of the expression is from an exchange on the Ed Sullivan Show, June 1956. Louis Armstrong wished Sullivan a happy birthday and then corrected himself, saying:
'My bad' came into widespread popular use in the mid to late-1990s in the USA via the 1995 movie “Clueless”. This starred Alicia Silverstone and contains what seems to have been the first use of the phrase in the mainstream media. The 1994 'Green revision pages' for the movie script has a scene with Alicia Silverstone's character learning to drive: