Post Apq0yeTUmPOea9PDV2 by swope@mstdn.plus
(DIR) More posts by swope@mstdn.plus
(DIR) Post #AppzgnuEsLzWfMqAJU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-07T11:41:19Z
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1987Corney newscaster explains earnestly: "You see it's a kind of slang, in this case, 'bad' means 'good'"This drove me nuts as a kid, but being only a kid I couldn't explain why precisely. Looking back it's obvious. "bad" didn't and never has meant "good" if you wanted to say "good" you'd say "good""bad" was a polite church-safe form of "bad ass"... which means resilient, undefeatable and scrappy. But, everyone knew, this right?
(DIR) Post #AppzygFU5HL887ImG0 by EverydayMoggie@sfba.social
2025-01-07T11:44:34Z
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I didn't. I also didn't know saying bad-ass was supposed to be impolite. Guess this is what happens when you don't really know anyone who goes to Christian churches?@futurebird
(DIR) Post #Apq0CghrBBmlbTFgzQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-07T11:47:07Z
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@EverydayMoggie “ass” is a swear …hence it can’t be said in church.
(DIR) Post #Apq0GNrLC6RKJCS048 by guyjantic@infosec.exchange
2025-01-07T11:47:46Z
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@futurebird Pasty Pinkish People from Suburban Montana/Washington/Utah/Arizona did not know this. By the time newscasters were painfully explaining it, however, there had already been enough pop culture presence of this (even before MJ's song) that I had kind of figured it out.
(DIR) Post #Apq0ayVscr2nmREOPI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-07T11:51:31Z
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The same thing happened to me ”dead ass” making it just “dead” for the kids who didn’t swear.
(DIR) Post #Apq0yeTUmPOea9PDV2 by swope@mstdn.plus
2025-01-07T11:55:45Z
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@futurebird There's a PhD dissertation for any scientist who can explain all the ways Americans use "ass".
(DIR) Post #Apq2YdIYjNJ7JS0lNI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-01-07T12:13:25Z
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@yadt @EverydayMoggie I distinctly remember a friend of mine being detained after Sunday School because said that “Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on an ass” with the wrong vibes.
(DIR) Post #Apq39UgJjN1DIphV8y by guyjantic@infosec.exchange
2025-01-07T12:20:06Z
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@futurebird OK, but I think this one went both ways. There are uses of "dead-ass" that I think used to just be "dead," but the "ass" got added, maybe for emphasis. Not 100% sure about this theory, but my "evidence" is that I've heard people say "dead-ass drunk" and "dead-ass certain." I even saw on the internet (recently, in the past decade or so) "dead-ass center." All of those are phrases I was familiar with from old movies and books without the "ass" (i.e., "dead drunk", "dead certain," "dead center").It's possible the movies and books were being extra polite, but I don't think so. "Dead" has, I think, a long history meaning something like "exactly" or "very" or "certainly" or similar. I'm thinking of old phrases like "dead on" or even "dead reckoning".
(DIR) Post #Apq9GGSpaa0qxa0KWG by Beggarmidas@mastodon.social
2025-01-07T13:28:35Z
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@futurebird Wait, didn't it also mean 'bad' as in with a wicked half smile saying 'oh, you're a very baaaaad boy/girl'...?
(DIR) Post #ApqPtG3qcTMWGpvyAy by Netux@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-01-07T16:34:42Z
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@futurebird I think it's older than that. George Thorogood and the Destroyers - Bad to the Bone already was in the public conscience before rap usage was general known (if it existed at the time) Similar intention, but wouldn't be because ass was removed for church folk.
(DIR) Post #ApqtCNNkWPTb9Ii9xo by MegaMichelle@a2mi.social
2025-01-07T22:03:15Z
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@futurebird I seem to recall the Cosby show getting some mileage about this slang, from a "these kids these days" perspective.