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| Sunday, 16 April 2006 |
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Bad? Dissin' the system - by rikki The thefreedictionary.com defines the word 'bad' as something that is below standard or expectation, as of ethics or decency. The word bad could mean anything from not having achieved an adequate standard, evil, sinful, vulgar, disagreeable, unfavourable, rotten, detrimental, defective, void, loss, intense and sorry.
The English lesson being over let me ask you, have you noticed how people make full use of the various interpretations of the word 'bad' and more except for sorry? Have you noticed how people mean every single one of these interpretations and more when they use the word 'bad' except of course for the feeling of being sorry? Have you noticed that people love this word so very much that they substitute whenever they could? Still not getting me? Let me explain... Pornography for instance is never called pornography in public, in the presence of children, nor mentioned by its proper designated name even in an adult conversation. Instead it is categorised into its various natures of publication with the generous help of the word 'bad'. You've got 'bad' books, 'bad' papers, 'bad' pictures, 'bad' movies. Even the internet is considered a 'bad' thing because it provides access to 'bad' sites. Cyber cafes are 'bad' places where 'bad' people get the chance to take a peek at 'bad' sites. Then comes the local favourite that is never, never alluded to by it's name: sex. Children always have the fact of sexual intercourse drilled into them as a 'bad' thing even though they are never told exactly what actions constitute this 'bad' thing, or that it is the common means of procreation and hence the means of conceiving the kids in the first place. (No wonder kids get extremely confused and rebel when they find out that not only did their parents did the 'bad' thing to bring forth their creation, but also continue to do these 'bad' things and hence are both 'bad' people.) A mother for instance will tell her daughter to avoid her 'bad' friend (has a visible tattoo), who wears 'bad' clothes (leather pants), goes to bad places (jamming sessions), hangs out with 'bad' people (ear-ring wearing kind), spends too much of time with 'bad' boys (non-nerds) doing what she considers are 'bad' things (being a tom-boy). Sometimes this excessive use of the word 'bad' can get most confusing. for instance imagine you are told by a colleague to avoid a certain person because he is a 'bad' man. This could mean one or more of several things: he could be (a)a pervert, (b)a thief, (c)a smoker, (d)consuming excess amounts of alcohol, (e) known to partake of the occasional puff of marijuana, (f)of loose morals, (g)an acquitted murderer, (h)having AIDS, (i)a homosexual, (j)a bisexual, (k)a prostitute, (l)a pimp, (m)a stripper, (n)a member of the underworld, and so on and so forth. The possibility (h) brings to mind yet another case of something being 'bad': the 'bad' disease. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is considered a 'bad' disease because it can only be contracted by 'bad' people who do 'bad' things. (cheating husbands don't count) Even though it is these very same people who continue to believe that the 'bad' disease can also be gotten from toilet seats, plates, utensils, accidental brushing, breathing the same air as the 'bad' person, etc., etc. There are also 'bad' words which can mean anything from slang- shit, crap, damn, darn,... to what is referred to as filth- f***, c***, ... There are 'bad' things that could mean anything from sex to porn to ice cream and chocolate. There are 'bad' people such as rapists, politicians, murderers and the neighbours. There are 'bad' roads (pot holed or haunted), 'bad' colours (black or red), 'bad' books (danielle steele or steven king), there are 'bad' names (betty or dick), 'bad' this, 'bad' that, 'bad' everything. But why? Why is it so hard to call something for what it is, call someone for who he is, instead of hypocritically trying to look saint-like by referring to it as 'bad'?
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