badmouth

See also: bad-mouth

English

Alternative forms

• bad-mouth

Etymology

From a Mande term, perhaps Vai [Term?] or Mandinka [Term?], which entered English via Gullah [Term?].

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæd.maʊθ/

Verb

badmouth (third-person singular simple present badmouths, present participle badmouthing, simple past and past participle badmouthed)

1. (informal) To criticize or malign, especially unfairly or spitefully.
   • 1987 August 30, Benedict Nightingale, Theater: England's Endless Love Affair with Farce, New York Times (retrieved 22 July 2013):

     . . . those cross-Atlantic aficionados who persistently idolize the British theater and bad-mouth Broadway.

Translations

to criticize or malign, especially unfairly or spitefully

• Catalan: malparlar (ca)
• Dutch: kwaadspreken (nl)
• Finnish: panetella (fi), puhua pahaa
• French: dénigrer (fr), déprécier (fr), débiner (fr)
• German: schlechtreden (de), schlechtmachen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 悪口 (waruguchi)
• Portuguese: falar mal
• Russian: черни́ть (ru) (černítʹ), поро́чить (ru) (poróčitʹ), матери́ть (ru) (materítʹ) (to swear dirtily at), обливать (oblivatʹ) грязью (grjazʹju) (oblivátʹ grjázʹju)
• Swedish: tala illa om