(From the 1930 Sellar & Yeatman parody "1066 And All That") Something that can' t possibly result in improvement of the subject. This term is always capitalised, as in "Replacing all of the 9600-baud modems with bicycle couriers would be a Bad Thing". Opposite: Good Thing. British correspondents confirm that Bad Thing and {Good Thing} (and probably 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. [Jargon File]
