Bad and Wrong is the description of something that is both badly designed and wrongly executed. This common term is the prototype of, and is used by contrast with, three less common terms — Bad and Right (a kludge, something ugly but functional); Good and Wrong (an overblown GUI or other attractive nuisance); and (rare praise) Good and Right. These terms entered common use at Durham around 1994 and may have been imported from elsewhere; they are also in use at Oxford, and the emphatic form "Evil and Bad and Wrong" (abbreviated EBW) is reported from there. "B&R" is the standard abbreviation for "Bad and Wrong", resulting from a typo, although B&W has been used occasionally. Although incorrect, "B&R" is still used as it is distinct from Black and White. Compare evil and rude, Good Thing and Bad Thing.
This article or an earlier version of it came from the Jargon File.
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