badass

[bǽ:ɖæ:s]

1 When used as a noun, badass* is pronounced with a stress on the first syllable. It refers to someone — man or woman — who's generally fearless, who'll try anything once no matter how risky, who'll talk to people in authority any way they like... in other words, someone who's considered EXTREMELY COOL because of all these qualities. Consequently, it's considered a compliment. In other words, we wouldn't use badass to describe someone you'd be afraid of on a dark street because bad here doesn't refer to being evil, dodgy, or mean — it's always used in the slang sense of really cool.

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*You'll see people spell this badass, bad-ass or bad ass. 
____________________⦿ to make it somewhere | to manage or be able to go somewhere for an event or occasion.⦿ actually | Here: I didn't think I would, but I enjoyed it, believe it or not.⦿ to have a blast | to have a really good time⦿ like | no meaning, just a filler word⦿ totally ripped | all muscle and very little or no fat⦿ to down | to drink a significant amount of something - often in one gulp⦿ to pull up | to come driving up; to arrive or approach in a vehicle⦿ Who knew...? | Used rhetorically to preface something you never knew and would never have suspected.

Adam tells his coworker, Dennis, about the company picnic the day before.

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Adam: Too bad you couldn't make it to the company picnic yesterday. I actually had a blast. But you had to see Carl in Accounting... holy shit!

Dennis: You mean that nerd in the corner desk?

Adam: Nerd?! He took off his glasses and his shirt and he's like totally ripped. He downed half a bottle of whiskey and still won the arm wrestling competition. Then he got up on stage and won the karaoke contest!

Dennis: What?! Are we talking about the same guy?

Adam: Yes! So afterwards, I asked him if he needed a ride home and he was like "Nah, my girlfriend's picking me up." Dude, I kid you not... this hot-ass blond pulls up in a pickup — a regular Pamela Anderson.

Dennis: Holy shit! Who knew Carl was such a badass!

2 While as a noun, badass refers to people exclusively, as an adjective, it's normally used to describe things. In this usage, it generally means COOL, IMPRESSIVE; (of clothes and accessories) FASHIONABLE; (of gadgets and technology) AMAZING. For example badass glasses, a badass shirt, a badass car, a badass new phone, etc. A movie can have badass effects. Someone can give their new dog a badass name. The possibilities are endless. In other words, it can refer to anything you consider REALLY COOL.

[bæ:ɖǽ:s]

When badass is right in front of a noun, it's pronounced bádass. However, when it's separated from the noun by a verb like to be, to look, to smell, to sound, the stress normally shifts to the second syllable: badáss. In other words, we say That's a bádass shirt, but That shirt is/looks badáss.

Mike and Joey are at the mall buying clothes.

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Mike: What do you think of these sunglasses?

Joey: Put them on... Yeah, those are some bádass glasses! 

Mike: And this jacket?

Joey: Nah, too big. But the one you tried on before looked badáss. 

⁕ ⁕ ⁕Very often, people will emphasize badass before a noun by replacing the article a(n) with the word one for singular nouns, and putting some before plural nouns: That is one badass car! -or- Those are some badass glasses! In this usage, one and some are unstressed, and some is commonly reduced to [sM]: That is one badass shirt! -or- Those are some badass shoes. 

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