Bǣddel Bygones: An article on origins, usage and proper contextual analysis of the term

Bǣddel Bygones: An article on origins, usage and proper contextual analysis of the term

Many people, by now, have written on bǣddel as a slur and have gone over how it may relate to trans women and various reclamation groups that arose in the late twenty-teens. But nobody, so far, seems to have given any credence at all for the context of its use or its origin and continued usage in British English today. Aside from apparently being the root of the word bad, it is a pejorative in Old English for gender nonconforming or effeminate cis men, intersex people and people who we would now refer to as trans women. 

But this is where many non-linguists go off the rails. Old English is super old. Like, older than the Middle Ages (where people spoke Middle English). Old English is largely incomprehensible to modern English speakers and I’m willing to bet that most people involved in bǣddel debates are not able to read Old English. There’s also the issue of etymology, since again, most people involved are people using it as an identity term (or dissecting its history), likely not many linguists specifically. This is where I hope to come in, as I study linguistics. 

Etymologically, it is only thought that bad comes from bǣddel, this isn’t a confirmed origin, most sources list it as ‘perhaps’ coming from bǣddel. Which means we need to leave room for other possibilities rather than locking ourselves away to just one. Bad- as a name element comes up in many English surnames and in English place names. To name a few, there is Baddeley Green and Baddeley Edge (Staffordshire), Baddesley Ensor and Baddesley Clinton (Warwickshire) and Baddiley (Cheshire). These places are thought to have been founded by Saxons called Baeddi, Badde or Bade and subsequently the place names became surnames as of the introduction of the Domesday Book. This means that bad may have come from any of these places or family lines, alternatively. It could have been a place that had a bad rap or an individual (or individuals) with that name curried distaste in the populace, leading to bǣddel as a term. 

Now, most sources we have for English terms come to us through Middle English and many sources link the personal name Bade etc. with the modern term bad. Evil was the more common antonym (opposite of) good in English until the 1700s, so claims that bǣddel has been used for bad frequently and persistently since the Old English stage are doubtful. 

What are the implications of this? Language is fluid and so is history. But either way, it's a safe bet that many armchair linguists and anthropologists are pulling things out of the blue with some of these aspects. Baedling to refer to a gnc, trans or intersex person is likely later than Bade itself.