Timeline for What's the verb to describe a good guy becoming a bad guy?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26, 2017 at 4:07 | comment | added | Loren Pechtel | Southwestern US, I never heard it until the TV show. | |
| Jun 23, 2017 at 12:56 | comment | added | Darren Ringer | FWIW, I've never heard it used as a synonym for "make meth". I am surprised that so many people appear to be confused about a phrase that most definitely existed before the show, and in fact answers the question perfectly well. I guess this is a glimpse into why regional dialect stays so regional - apparently it is nonsense to everyone else. | |
| Jun 22, 2017 at 16:02 | comment | added | Amory | Relevant: english.stackexchange.com/q/124299/48426 and english.stackexchange.com/q/174891/48426 | |
| Jun 21, 2017 at 23:43 | comment | added | neminem | Until the tv show, I'd never seen anyone use the phrase "break bad". Since the tv show, I've seen tons of people use the phrase "break bad": 100% of the time, as a synonym for "make meth". | |
| Jun 21, 2017 at 19:33 | comment | added | called2voyage | @vijrox The meaning is not hard to figure out if you know a one-liner description of the point of the show. I have never watched it and didn't know the meaning of the phrase before it was used as the title of the show. | |
| Jun 21, 2017 at 19:32 | comment | added | vijrox | @called2voyage I would wager that most who hear the term "breaking bad" think of the TV series first, then those who have seen the series recall the meaning of the phrase by remembering the ONE scene in the series where it was used in a sentence. | |
| Jun 21, 2017 at 15:34 | comment | added | called2voyage | @Kevin But it would likely be understood, which may be all that's needed. | |
| Jun 20, 2017 at 21:16 | comment | added | Kevin | @DarrenRinger the phrase itself is now more widely recognized, but I don't think its usage in this sense is. | |
| Jun 20, 2017 at 20:01 | comment | added | Darren Ringer | If anything, I think the show's title being so familiar adds to the credibility of this being the preferred answer. Perhaps it was not a particularly common term before, but it certainly has much wider adoption now as a result of the series. I may have heard it fewer than five times in my life before the show aired, but I am surprised that anyone from the US would have been totally unfamiliar with the term - especially after knowing about the show. | |
| Jun 20, 2017 at 17:50 | comment | added | Izkata | Midwestern US here (raised in Chicago suburbs); I've never heard this phrase outside of that TV show's title. Before even reading Muzer's comment, when I saw this answer I was like, "Oh, so that's what that means?" | |
| Jun 20, 2017 at 16:57 | comment | added | Muzer | I would say that, TV series titles aside, this is likely not to be understood by many listeners. | |
| Jun 20, 2017 at 15:29 | history | answered | honeybadger | CC BY-SA 3.0 |