Literary notes about bad (AI summary)
Authors employ "bad" in a wide and flexible manner, making it a word that transcends simple negativity to encapsulate moral judgments, quality assessments, and even ironic commentary. It is used to denote both ethical failings and technical shortcomings—a “bad teacher” can suggest a moral or professional deficit [1] while “bad weapons” imply inadequate strength in critical circumstances [2]. At times, it serves to temper expectations or add nuance to everyday life, as when characters remark on “bad news” [3] or unexpected personal failings [4]. The term also figures in broader philosophical and aesthetic discussions, reflecting on societal ills or artistic missteps, such as in commentary on “bad style” or detrimental policies [5, 6]. In this way, “bad” becomes a versatile descriptor that mirrors the complexity of human experience across literature.
- You will agree that a bad teacher does far less harm than a bad priest.”
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - For five more years the Bolshevik leaders held their country together with wretched industrial production, poor food, bad weapons.
— from Psychological Warfare by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger - Though it be honest, it is never good To bring bad news.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - If he's quiet, I shall take it as a very bad sign.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens - For example: A conspicuous evidence of bad style that has persisted through numberless changes in fashion, is the over-dressed and over-trimmed head.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - A battle however, if directed by bad policy which again is destitute of the well-known arts, ends in defeat or destruction.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1
