1. (informal) The atomic bomb; the capability to launch a nuclear attack. Often capitalized.
            -Pakistan and India both have the Bomb now.
2. (slang) A success; something excellent.
            -Their new record is the bomb.
            -That party was the bomb!


Unbeknownst to me, this saying has worked its way back into my vocabulary. I caught myself saying it every now and again but it wasn't really anything that I thought too much about.

A few days ago, I said it at work and one of my co-workers interrupted the conversation to alert me to the fact that 1996 had called and wanted its slang back.

I was slightly taken aback. I guess I was under the impression that "the bomb" was one of those slang words that transcends time, like "cool." "Cool" has been around for decades and everyone still uses it.* "The bomb" effectively expresses the desired sentiment and adds a touch of hip-ness, like when people say "I dig it" (which I'm still okay with).

However, "the bomb" is one of those things that you probably shouldn't say over the age of, say, thirty-five. Maybe that's too young, but if you wake up and you're forty-two years old and you're still calling things "the bomb," you should stop immediately. You are in danger of becoming one of those people, and you know the ones I mean.

I wasn't aware that this was an issue, but I'm going to continue saying "the bomb" until I find something that is better fitting (or until I'm forty-two). It's actually come to the point now that a friend of mine will stop a conversation if he says it and will point to me. "Oh man, guys, I had this salad that was -- " -->points to Anniemosity<-- " -- the bomb. The bombest."**



*According to Wikipedia, "cool" has been around since the times of Aristotle. Aristotle is also the bomb.

**I will NEVER say that something is "the bombest."