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Bad Thing


Bad Thing: [from the 1930 Sellar & Yeatman parody "1066 And
   All That"] n. Something that can't possibly result in improvement
   of the subject.  This term is always capitalized, as in "Replacing
   all of the 9600-baud modems with bicycle couriers would be a Bad
   Thing".  Oppose Good Thing.  British correspondents confirm
   that Bad Thing and Good Thing (and prob. therefore Right
   Thing and Wrong Thing) come from the book referenced in the
   etymology, which discusses rulers who were Good Kings but Bad
   Things.  This has apparently created a mainstream idiom on the
   British side of the pond.