Who was the first person to start saying, "My bad!" when they made a mistake?

Who was the first person to start saying, "My bad! " when they made a mistake? Where did this phrase get its start, and how long do you think it will last?

Asked by patriotsmom 52 months ago Similar questions: person start made mistake Arts > Writing.

Similar questions: person start made mistake.

Earliest recorded use seems to be Manute Bol The phrase didn't come into widespread use until years later when used frequently in films and other pop culture outlets. However, the first recorded use of "my bad" seems to be Manute Bol, who apparently "invented" the phrase in the 1980's. Bol, a Sudanese whose native language is Dinka would say "my bad" when making a bad pass.

The phrase was adopted by most of his teammates when he played for the Golden State warriors in the late '80's. Eventually other players picked up the phrase, which eventually spread to pick-up urban basketball lingo, and from there into ever more widespread usage. Look here for for a very well-researched analysis: bookofjoe.com/2006/02/the_origin_of_m.html" rel="nofollow">bookofjoe.com/2006/02/the_origin_of_m.html Sources: bookofjoe.com/2006/02/the_origin_of_m.html" rel="nofollow">bookofjoe.com/2006/02/the_origin_of_m.html .

Article below: The best evidence obtainable at present points to Manute Bol (above), the 7'7" Sudanese NBA player whose native tongue was Dinka, as the inventor, sometime in the 1980s, of this now–ubiquitous phrase. Geoffrey K. Pullum told the story in his December 7, 2005 blog post.

Here is the relevant portion: Ken Arneson emailed me to say that he heard the phrase was first used by the Sudanese immigrant basketball player Manute Bol, believed to have been a native speaker of Dinka (a very interesting and thoroughly un-Indo-Europeanlike language of the Nilo-Saharan superfamily). Says Arneson, "I first heard the phrase here in the Bay Area when Bol joined the Golden State Warriors in 1988, when several Warriors players started using the phrase. " And Ben Zimmer's rummaging in the newspaper files down in the basement of Language Log Plaza produced a couple of early 1989 quotes that confirm this convincingly: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan.10, 1989: When he Manute Bol throws a bad pass, he'll say, "My bad" instead of "My fault," and now all the other players say the same thing.

USA Today, Jan.27, 1989: After making a bad pass, instead of saying "my fault," Manute Bol says, "my bad." Now all the other Warriors say it too. So all of this is compatible with a date of origin for the phrase in the early 1980s (Manute Bol first joined the NBA in 1985 but came to the USA before that, around 1980).

Professor Ron McClamrock of the Philosophy Department at SUNY Albany tells me he recalls very definitely hearing the phrase on the basketball court when he was in graduate school at MIT in the early 1980s, so the news stories above could be picking the story up rather late; but it is still just possible that Manute Bol was the originator, because he played for Cleveland State and Bridgeport University in the early 1980s, and his neologism just could have spread from there to other schools in the northeast, such as MIT. Sources: http://www.bookofjoe.com/2006/02/the_origin_of_m.html .

1 I wish I knew the answer to that one! That is one of the most irratating phrases to me! A girl I work with must say it two dozen times a day!

I wish I knew the answer to that one! That is one of the most irratating phrases to me! A girl I work with must say it two dozen times a day!

2 I don't think it was President George W.Bush. ;) .

I don't think it was President George W. Bush. ;).

I also don't like "Have a good one." A good what? But then in all fairness, I should tell you that in my writing group, I'm known as the grammer queen!

I think Dubya DID start it---he just got tired of all the explanations--and just shortened it.

" "It's been a while since we tried writing a story as a group. Let's start another one:" "I made a mistake in Vista" "I've been married for about a month and already we are asking if we made a mistake?" "Have you ever made the mistake of "drunk dialing? "" "i recendtly applied for a credit card at amazon.

But I think I made a mistake when writing my adress. What can I do? " "Do you think I made a mistake letting my daughter be a designated driver?

" "What did you write your thesis on? And, when you start writing it? " "What are some intriguing examples of discoveries made by accident, or resulting from a mistake?

" "What's the biggest parenting mistake your parents made?

It's been a while since we tried writing a story as a group. Let's start another one.

I recendtly applied for a credit card at amazon. But I think I made a mistake when writing my adress. What can I do?

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.