[Ads-l] "my bad" redux

Tue Oct 23 20:40:08 UTC 2018

Great thread Ben, Peter, and LH. Below is a use in June 1980 of "my
bads" meaning "my mistakes", but it does not quite match the modern
meaning. Perhaps it can be viewed as a precursor.

The team of a basketball coach named John Pellegrino has been
penalized because of the coach's actions. Pellegrino says he knows how
General George Custer felt. Pellegrino "acknowledges some of the
administrative errors/judgments that led to problems". He uses "my
bads" to refer to his errors.

Issue Date: June 7, 1980
Newspaper: The Tampa Tribune
Newspaper Location: Tampa, Florida
Article: The Morning After: The Darkest Days of John Pellegrino
Author: Tom McEwen (Sports Editor)
Start Page 1C, Quote Page 6C, Column 3
Database: Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/image/335363311/

[Begin excerpt]
As for George Custer Pellegrino's last stand, "All I can say is I
believe my goods outweigh my bads by far. Put us on probation if they
must, but don't cancel the season, and let me keep coaching."
[End excerpt]

Garson
On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 4:11 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Well spotted! Here's Peter's clipping of the whole slang list:
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24780469/the_montgomery_advertiser/
>
> (Manute Bol was still in Khartoum in 1981, so we can safely rule him out as
> the originator of "my bad.")
>
> On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 3:51 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > From a "list of slang words in current use in Montgomery [Alabama], and
> > was compiled from high school and college students. . . .  My bad -
> > admission of a mistake, as 'Sorry, my bad.'"
> >
> >
> > The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Alabama), May 3, 1981, Section D,
> > page 1.
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben
> > Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2018 9:20 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "my bad" redux
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "my bad" redux
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > In the 2010 thread I linked to, Jesse Sheidlower mentioned that the OED had
> > "my bad" from The Back-In-Your-Face Guide to Pick-Up Basketball (1986),
> > which is cited in the OED3 entry (after the 1985 cite Garson found). Jon
> > Lighter seemed to think it might be in the earlier edition, The
> > In-Your-Face Basketball Book (1980), but I believe an OED researcher
> > checked and it wasn't there. But we still may be able to find it in some
> > pre-1985 source, since, as Larry said, the '85 cites take it as a known
> > phrase (at least among sportswriters who presumably enjoyed playing pick-up
> > basketball).
> >
> > On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 11:51 AM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > We had a thread on this in October 1997; the consensus was that it
> > > originated in the mid 1980s in a basketball context (presumably from
> > > players admitting they were responsible for a foul), so basically
> > > consistent with the findings below.  It would seem from the Dan Rooney
> > > quote, though, that that usage must have established (although perhaps
> > not
> > > attested in print) before April 1985.  The truth is out there!
> > >
> > > LH
> > >
> > > > On Oct 23, 2018, at 11:31 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > On the Woot.com blog, Ken Jennings has a post in his "debunker" series,
> > > > "Did Manute Bol Coin the Phrase 'My Bad'?":
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > https://www.woot.com/blog/post/the-debunker-did-manute-bol-coin-the-phrase-my-bad
> > > >
> > > > This appears to rely on research I rounded up in a Word Routes column
> > in
> > > > 2010, after Manute Bol died:
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/the-manute-bol-theory-of-my-bad/
> > > >
> > > > In that column, I noted that the earliest known citation was one that
> > > > Garson found from Nov. 1985 and posted to ADS-L. (It was subsequently
> > > > included in the OED3 entry for "bad.")
> > > >
> > > > ----
> > > > 1985 Gainesville Sun 14 Nov. 3E Yes, the Vols still must host Vandy the
> > > > following weekend, but c'mon, Vandy? Oops, my bad, I forgot for a
> > moment
> > > > what the Commodore did to Georgia. Silly me.
> > > >
> > >
> > http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ya4RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3244,4369872
> > > >
> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-April/098781.html
> > > > ----
> > > >
> > > > That example was from Bobby Tyler, a sportswriter in Gainesville,
> > > Florida.
> > > > Here it is earlier in 1985 from Dan Rooney, a local sports columnist in
> > > > Muncie, Indiana.
> > > >
> > > > ----
> > > > The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana), Apr. 14, 1985, p. C7, col. 3
> > > > I know. I picked Fuzzy Zoeller to win the Masters and he didn't even
> > make
> > > > the cut. My bad.
> > > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24771896/my_bad/
> > > > ----
> > > >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org