Q: I’m perplexed by the use of “bad boy” to refer to an object. For example, a tool: “This bad boy is very useful.” Can you shed light on this usage?
A: The phrase “bad boy” has been used since the mid-19th century to describe a rebellious man, but in the mid-20th century it also came to mean something effective or impressive, such as a car, a tool, a musical instrument, or other object.
When the term refers to a man, the Oxford English Dictionary explains, “bad boy” is used “with (humorous) allusion to the noun phrase bad boy in the general sense ‘ill-behaved male child.’ ”
The dictionary defines the use of “bad boy” for an adult as “a man who does not conform to expected or approved standards of conduct; a rebel,” and has this for its earliest example:
“We of New York who do duty so constantly in the British Press as the model ‘bad boys’ of Christendom’ ” (from The New York Times, March 9, 1860).
The OED says “bad girl” has been used since the mid-1800s to mean “a woman who defies expected or approved standards of conduct, esp. one who behaves in a wild, rebellious, or sexually provocative manner.”
The earliest Oxford example of the term used for a woman is from an Iowa newspaper: “The suspected ‘bad girl’ went before Mayor Morrison” (Daily Express and Herald, Dubuque, Feb. 14, 1855). The OED has no examples for “bad girl” used to mean an impressive object.
The dictionary says the use of “bad boy” for “something considered extremely effective or impressive” is “chiefly U.S.” and appeared “originally in African American usage.”
The earliest Oxford citation refers to a 1969 student occupation of buildings at Howard University. In this passage, “bad boys” are “wolf tickets” (threats or bluffs)—specifically, court orders that were eventually enforced when the students called the school’s bluff:
“The administration has been selling (wolf) tickets with their TRO’s (Temporary Restraining Orders) all year; and the students just cashed in one of those bad boys!” The parentheses are part of the quotation, from the Baltimore Afro-American, May 10, 1969.
The dictionary’s latest citation for “bad boy” used to mean an object refers to a snare drum: “The story is exactly the same with the matching 6×13 snare. Big sound, impeccable sensitivity, and maximum tuning versatility. No muffling or fine-tuning required with this bad boy” (Modern Drummer, February 2021).
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