my bad
My fault; mea culpa.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I forgot to call you back, my bad.”
“I used your favorite coffee mug without asking, my bad.”
“I accidentally sent the email to the wrong person, so I told my boss, my bad.”
“I realize now that I gave you the wrong directions to the restaurant, so my bad for making you late.”
“I thought we were meeting at six instead of five, so my bad for leaving you waiting outside in the rain.”
“He offered a quick, casual my bad when he realized he had interrupted the speaker during the final presentation.”
The term originated in the slang of pick-up basketball. It was notably popularised, though not originally coined, by the Sudanese player Manute Bol during his tenure with the Golden State Warriors in the late 1980s. Bol's teammates subsequently adopted the phrase, facilitating its transition from the court into general usage.
The semantics are comparable to the Russian *оплошность* (*oplošnostʹ*), meaning a mistake or something bad, which is formed from *о-* (*o-*) and *плох* (*plox*), meaning bad.
- 01
bad actor
An individual or entity with a prior criminal conviction, or who has been sanctioned by the court or regulator.
- 02
bad apple
A person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others.
- 03
bad books
Disfavor.
- 04
bad business
Synonym of bad news (“irritating, troublesome or harmful thing, situation or person”).
- 05
bad company
The wrong crowd.
- 06
bad egg
Someone whose behaviour is reprehensible or irresponsible; a rogue.
- 07
bad hair day
A day when things seem to be unmanageable or go wrong.
- 08
bad iron
bad luck.
Last updated August 10, 2026