my bad
My bad (phrase) means a casual admission that you made a mistake. Example: “My bad, I sent the file to the wrong address.”
How to Use My bad
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA quick, casual way of saying the mistake was yours.
Informal spoken English; avoid in formal or written apologies.
It stands alone as a whole sentence and never takes 'is': say 'my bad', not 'it is my bad'.
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
_____, I sent the file to the wrong address.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 'my bad' rude?
Not rude, but very casual. It works among friends and colleagues for small slips, and it can sound dismissive if the mistake was serious, where a full apology is expected instead.
Is 'my bad' grammatically correct?
It is a fixed idiom rather than ordinary grammar, using the adjective 'bad' as if it were a noun. It is accepted in informal English and is not a mistake, but it does not belong in formal writing.
What can I say instead of 'my bad' at work?
'That was my mistake', 'apologies, that was on me' or simply 'sorry, I'll fix it' all carry the same admission with more weight. Naming the fix matters more than the wording.