BADASS: Are you a badass?

         As we go through life, we all find something to look up to.  Instantly, you�re thinking of a hero.  You may be thinking of Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jordan, or even Superman, but stop and think for a minute.  Was there anyone you looked up to that wasn�t exactly considered a hero?  I�m talking about the �bad� guy/girl.  Take James Dean for example.  He was a good-looking, charming guy that all the girls went crazy over.  He was considered a loner, but he made his own decisions without anyone telling him different.  He did things �his� way.  Now, James Dean doesn�t sound like a hero, but who wouldn�t want ladies drooling over them, and who wouldn�t love to do what they wanted without anyone else�s input?  Well, if you are a lady, then you would probably look up to someone like Marilyn Monroe.  She wasn�t exactly an angel, but she was America�s sweetheart.  Men all across the country loved to watch and listen to her sing or act.  To the outside world, she had the perfect life.  She was beautiful, wealthy, and popular.  To the ladies, she was like a Barbie that came to life.  Now for those people who want to be inspired by great achievement, Muhammad Ali is the man.  He was an awesome fighter in the ring and in life.  He never gave up his dreams, and he encouraged others to do the same.  He was a great athlete with a great attitude.  He kept the �fighting words� to before is matches, and in the ring, but after the match, he held high respect for his opponent.  His famous lines were, �I am the greatest!�, and  �I float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee�.  So what do James Deans, Marilyn Monroe, and Muhammad Ali all have in common?  Well, the answer is simple.  They�re not considered heroes, but they are considered badass.  The word badass personally means a lot to me for a couple of reasons:

1. It�s the word I use most in everyday conversation.
2. My friends, from back home, and I were referred to as badasses in high school.  We, for the most part, ruled the school.  Nobody talked back to us, and the students and the teachers both respected us as leaders of the school.

        The word badass has not yet been accepted into the Standard American English language, but the root words, �bad� and �ass�, have been accepted.  �Bad� originated in 1297 where R. Glouc used it in this sentence, �Wat is vs lete pis badde kying Go pus a liue as a schade, pat nys worp noping?,� according to the Oxford English Dictionary.  In this comment made by R. Glouc, I believe the word �bad� is used as something that is terrible or horrible.

         �Ass� came about 1000 when Elfric Numb of Ireland used it here �Se assa gescah sose enqal� (OED).  Here I believe the word �assa� (ass) means the body part also known as a butt.
More than likely, the word badass originated from the words �bad� and �ass�.   Each of these words has many different meanings.  �Bad� means defective quality or worth, no good, below par, worthless, and miserable (OED).  It also means causing inconvenience, displeasure, or pain (OED), but I think the �bad� in badass originated from the slang definition meaning powerful and/or intense (That definition comes from NTC�s American Slang Dictionary).  �Ass� means an ignorant, stupid, and/or clumsy person (OED).

        Badass in general means awesome, great, unbelievable, spectacular, and/or amazing.   It could also be defined in two ways, negative and positive.  The most commonly used way to use this term in a negative sense is a tough guy and/or arrogant person.  The positive way to use badass has the same meaning as the negative, but it also means �ideal�, ideal in the sense of a role model.
Badass is used mainly as an adjective, but it can also describe verbs.  For example:

        1.   When describing a person, you could say, �That guy thinks that he is such a badass.�  But there is also an alternate meaning to that which is when someone is worthless and/or the scum of the earth.  Such as, �That drug dealer is pushing on little kids, he is such a badass.�  If I used Mr. Ali for an axample, I would say,  �Muhammad Ali was a badass.� This would be commenting on him in a positive way.  His fighting was awesome, or his attitude was cocky but respectful.  I could also comment on Marilyn Monroe as a badass.  When I seen a picture of her in her swimming suit, I replied to my friend, �Look at Marilyn.  She is so badass�.  In other words, I would be calling her amazing or awesome.

        2.  When you describe a verb with badass, you say  �Did you see that catch that Jerry Rice made?,� and you reply, �Yeah, that was badass� (NTC's).
Badass can be used in three different situations:

        1.  First when a person is a known tough guy you refer to him as a badass, because calling someone a tough guy edges on to him that you don�t respect him.  For example, Matt Dudek walks past you and you see him and say, �Wow, that kid is a badass, I wouldn�t mess with him.�

        2.  When something great or amazing happens. For example,  �Did you see that catch Troy Edwards made?,� your friend replies, �Yeah, that was badass.�     3.  Lastly, when someone is the scum of the earth and/or a worthless person you would say, �Look at that drug dealing, trailer trash.  They are badass�.

         Badass is used mostly by my generation although it is not restricted to my generation.  People from other generations have used, or use this term, such as in the 1960�s badass meant an ignorant person, a troublemaker, and a tough guy.  These meanings are the same as todays.

         Badass has been through at least three decades, and it has yet to change in meaning, however, there are words that mean the same thing, or close to what badass means, such as hardass and beast.

         Hardass is a slang term that means a severe and often pugnacious person (NTC�s).  Hardass can be used in the same sense as badass.  Such as, �That professor is such a hardass.�  Hardass has been around also since at least the 1960�s, and the meaning has not changed.  This word also has negative and positive meanings.  In this sentence, �That Tim Hibner kid, he is a real hardass.�  That could be both negative and positive, it depends what emotion you put into it when you say it.

         Beast is also a slang term meaning a crude violent, or sexually aggressive male (NTC�s).  Beast can also be used in the same way as badass.  For example, �Our waiter tonight was such a beast.�  Beast can only be used in the negative sense unless you use this word with one of its alternate meanings.  Beast also means, an extremely muscular, or overweight person.  �I saw this guy at the gym, he was a beast.�  When used with the �extremely muscular� part of the definition, the word is positive, but when used with the �overweight� part of the definition, it is negative.

        Badass is commonly used by millions of people.  This word is well rooted which means that it has derived from �real words� with �real meanings�.  This also means that this word�s definition has supporting truth behind it.  It is a good adjective that people use frequently.  We need this word to describe amazing people like James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Muhammad Ali, because they don�t fall under the category of a hero.  If the words �bad� and �ass� are in the dictionary, why can�t the word, badass be admitted into the dictionary also?  This word holds a history and a future in the Standard American English, and badass should be officially admitted into it.
 
Matt Dudek