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.
