Bad Thing: [from The 1930 Sellar & Yeatman Parody "1066 And All That"] N.

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: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.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary

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