Bad Thing

Bad Thing n.  [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 capitalized, as in
   "Replacing all of the 9600-baud modems with bicycle couriers would
   be a Bad Thing".  Oppose {Good Thing}.  British correspondents
   confirm that {Bad Thing} and {Good Thing} (and prob.
   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.