bad good

I grew up in Maine and the word wicked seemed to be as common as “like” in a valley girl today. In most of the country, when someone uses “evil” in a sentence, they probably mean something along the lines of the dictionary definition.

In Maine, “evil” replaces less colorful adjectives and adverbs like very, extremely, and really.

Bad is most commonly associated with good, what makes something “good.” I’ve had a really good apple pie with vanilla ice cream, seen really good movies, and read really good books. I would have called schindler’s list a good wicked movie. I am reading right now Matter Horn, by Karl Malantes, and so far it is very good but it does not become evil. Here in Washington I never use the term, but as soon as I get back to Maine it starts to become part of my vocabulary again. “Wicked bad” is for some reason much less commonly used as a colloquialism. I suspect this is because this could lead to more confusion, as the bad guys and the bad guys look pretty much the same. Even in Maine we try to avoid double negatives.

The pronunciation of the word evil is key to not being seen as a would-be maniac. The stress should be on the first syllable, and an almost imperceptible pause before the second syllable is usually used for emphasis. Sounds like “Wick’-id”. This is especially important for describing things dear to the heart of a true maniac. A trout that puts up a wicked good fight before you catch it needs a good wick syllable stress. A good wicked pass by the high school quarterback to get a key first down against the archrival’s school should be done slowly for emphasis.

It’s hard to spend a day in my hometown without hearing this very common way of speaking used many times. If I heard someone at home say that something was awfully good, or especially good, it would seem strange.

I enjoy going home every summer for many reasons, but one of the biggest is the great lobster feed we share at camp. It’s a shame the visits go by so quickly.

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