"My Bad"

[Neto]

Is this an honest apology?

Do you think it would be a valid way of expressing repentance, whether to God, or to a church body?

(I have a hard time thinking it is a 'real' apology. It strikes me as more so just a deflection, a dismissal of the event.)

[ken_sylvania]

Is this an honest apology?

Do you think it would be a valid way of expressing repentance, whether to God, or to a church body?

(I have a hard time thinking it is a 'real' apology. It strikes me as more so just a deflection, a dismissal of the event.)

It's an admission, not an apology. It has its place in certain situations but shouldn't be used were a real apology is in order. For instance - we're playing volleyball and I give you a nice set but you fumble the spike, "my bad" is an acceptable response from you. Whereas if you slam open your car door and dent the side of my car, "my bad" or even "Sorry, my bad" would be next thing to insulting - unless of course we are both driving beaters where another dent could never be noticed.

[Bootstrap]

Is this an honest apology?

Do you think it would be a valid way of expressing repentance, whether to God, or to a church body?

(I have a hard time thinking it is a 'real' apology. It strikes me as more so just a deflection, a dismissal of the event.)

I think that depends a lot on what you are apologizing for.

Rape? "My bad" isn't going to cut it. Accidentally saying something that hits a sensitive spot? "Oh, I'm sorry" or "my bad!" might be enough.

I think it depends a lot on what is needed to move on with integrity. For minor things, it might not be much.

[temporal1]

^^good responses

i rarely refer to THE URBAN DICTIONARY, .. i agree with this below.
A few (pages) of definitions are offered.

My bad
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=MY+BAD

As usual, INTENT varies with the situation-person, differences can be subtle, and subjective.
It’s often meant to be, “i’m wrong, i’m embarrassed, i don’t want to admit it”. “i want to be cute.”

It’s on the annoying spectrum, and pretty much is intended to be.

i hope it stays in the slang world.

[JohnL]

Both of these comments cover my thoughts on that phrase. I've seen that phrase used to often to get out of offering a sincere apology. It's definitely a deflection in that case, an avoidance of taking responsibility for causing hurt or damage. Personally I think that phrase should be abandoned altogether and we should teach our children and grandchildren to apologize without making excuses "I apologize for doing that but ...." kind of excuse. If the hurt or damage was done in front of others then the apology should be made in front of others.
Of course if we role model that for others it adds much more to the lesson.

Is this an honest apology?

Do you think it would be a valid way of expressing repentance, whether to God, or to a church body?

(I have a hard time thinking it is a 'real' apology. It strikes me as more so just a deflection, a dismissal of the event.)

It's an admission, not an apology. It has its place in certain situations but shouldn't be used were a real apology is in order. For instance - we're playing volleyball and I give you a nice set but you fumble the spike, "my bad" is an acceptable response from you. Whereas if you slam open your car door and dent the side of my car, "my bad" or even "Sorry, my bad" would be next thing to insulting - unless of course we are both driving beaters where another dent could never be noticed.

[Neto]

The situation that 'pushed me over the cliff" so that I put up this post. (I have had that said to me before, and it has always struct me as a bit insulting. Better to not say anything at all.)

We contracted with an Amish business to do a flooring installation. An agreement was made as to schedule, which was very important, because the apt is occupied, and we were then scheduling with the renter to get the prep work done before the day when the installer would come out. He moved it all up by one day, because "another customer was not flexible", and never contacted us about the change. He called late afternoon the day before HE had decided to do the work. His response: "My Bad". We had wanted the entire previous day to do our part of the preparation. So we went out the night before, at inconvenience to not only us, but perhaps more importantly, to the renter. We were not able to get everything done that evening, partly because the renter (the husband) starts work in the very early AM, and he needed to get to sleep. (We were also dead beat, having already put in a day's work elsewhere, before even starting.) So the result was that the installer (a non-Amish employee or sub-contractor) ended up helping with the prep work, because I was not able to get it all done in the second room before he was ready to start there. He didn't mind, but it will likely affect the cost of this job.

I was surprised, quite frankly, to hear such a lame 'apology' from an adult Amishman. I hadn't realized this 'language' had spread that far.

[barnhart]

Is this an honest apology?

Do you think it would be a valid way of expressing repentance, whether to God, or to a church body?

(I have a hard time thinking it is a 'real' apology. It strikes me as more so just a deflection, a dismissal of the event.)

It might depend on the age of the person offering it, and maybe the age of the recipient as well...

[JayP]

I would agree that in most usages of r the phrase, it is used less as an apology as an admission of fault/responsibility but within a framework where it could be blamed on any one of several to an observer.

I think the key quality of “my bad” is a clear statement of “was not his fault, it is mine”.

I think to use it as an apology (and I am sure some do) is poor usage.

[Valerie]

Seems like I usually here it instead of “my mistake “

In the case of the Amish business, they should have stuck to their original contracted date- that simply was wrong on their part & “my bad” wouldn’t cut it! I have noticed Amish have different ways of putting things and maybe misapplied that phrase- maybe.

[Praxis+Theodicy]

One way to respond to public controversy is "Mia culpa", which is essentially latin for "my bad". It's the better response, in my opinion, compared to the more popular response of fighting the allegations or pointing fingers away from yourself.

Popular Christian figures in recent years who did a "Mia culpa/my bad" are Bruxy Cavey and Michael Tate.

Repentance is still necessary after an admission of guilt, but I appreciate when people take ownership via a mia culpa. There is humility in responding to controversy by saying "Yes, I did this, and yes, it was very wrong, and I am not going to engage in excuse-making."

Other Christian figures like Ravi Zacharias and John H. Yoder died unrepentant of their hidden sins.

The thing is, their witness is harmed either way. Of the four figures mentioned(Bruxy Cavey, Michale Tate, Ravi Zacharias, J.H. Yoder), which of them still has a reliable Christian witness?