Down Bad

Submission 5,661

Part of a series on AAVE / African American Vernacular English. [View Related Entries]

About

Down Bad is a slang term used as a euphemism for horny, specifically in a desperate or depressed manner. The phrase originates from African-American Vernacular, making an appearance in various rap songs in 2012, and entering mainstream terminology after the year 2015 when it became the subject of various memes about hornyposting or being thirsty. The word "bad" is sometimes replaced with an exaggerated adjective, such as "down atrocious" or "down abominable." The slang term is also associated with the Down Bad Man meme.

Origin

The term "down bad" made an appearance in various tweets with minimal engagement dating back to 2009, though its use on Twitter at the time wasn't specifically about horniness.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The slang expression then became prominent in hip-hop culture as it was referenced in various songs between the early 2010s. For example, on January 21st, 2012, rapper Young Scooter released his song "Down Bad," gathering over 2.1 million views on the YouTube^[4] music video in over 10 years (seen below, left). On January 27th, 2012, rapper Lil B uploaded his song "In Down Bad" to YouTube,^[5] gathering over 180,000 views in over 10 years (seen below, right).

The earliest known viral social media post to use the phrase "down bad" to mean "desperately horny" in its current usage was a May 8th, 2017, tweet^[6] by rapper Kash Doll, gathering over 12,000 likes in six years (seen below).

Spread

On October 22nd, 2019, Dreamville's official YouTube^[7] channel released the music video for the song "Down Bad" featuring J.I.D, Bas, J. Cole, EarthGang, and Young Nudy. The video has gathered over 15 million views in three years (seen below).

On August 22nd, 2019, Twitter^[8] user @JoshyBeSloshy posted a tweet that read, "Ill never switch up on you Mcchicken. 💯 I remember when i was down bad and all i had was 1.07 in my pocket & you were always there🤞🏼❤️ FUCK POPEYES‼️," gathering over 100,000 likes in three years (seen below, left). On December 27th, 2019, Twitter^[9] user @Miista45 posted a tweet that read, "Amazon down bad," gathering over 40,000 likes in three years (seen below, right).

On October 27th, 2020, the phrase "down bad" was added to Urban Dictionary,^[10] gathering over 10,000 likes in three years (seen below, left). On November 23rd, 2020, Instagram^[11] page @leftistperspective posted a meme using the phrase "down bad" and gathering over 2,000 likes in three years (seen below, right).

In 2021, the word "bad" began being substituted for stronger and more exaggerated adjectives for humorous effect. On October 23rd, 2021, Twitter^[12] user @MemesMeccha posted a tweet with the caption, "Down terrible," gathering over 60,000 likes in two years (seen below, left). On August 15th, 2022, Twitter^[13] user @woIftrapva posted a meme alongside the caption, "down horrendous," gathering over 10,000 likes in six months (seen below, right).

Down Bad Man

Down Bad Man is a character created by TikToker MikeCakez in which the defining character trait is that he is always Down Bad, or looking at things that are just slightly sexual and being overly sexually charged by them, in reference to the slang term of the same name. The character is then interrupted by someone saying "Sir, Sir!" that causes Down Bad Man to ask for whatever the item or object being shown is.