A ‘bad hair day’ originally had a literal meaning – a day on which one’s hair seems unmanageable. The expression’s meaning has been extended to mean a day when everything seems to go wrong.
Bad hair day
What's the meaning of the phrase 'Bad hair day'?
What's the origin of the phrase 'Bad hair day'?
‘Bad hair day’ came into prominence in the language following its use in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Buffy (Kristy Swanson) to the one-armed vampire Amilyn (Paul Reubens):
“I’m fine but you’re obviously having a bad hair day.”.
The phrase was already well known by that date but not very widely used. In February 1970: the Michigan newspaper the Lansing State Journal printed:
When your hair gets too expressive it usually results in a condition called “a bad hair day” …the only fitting end to a bad hair day is a trip to the Barbers.
Whether that’s where the term was coined isn’t certain, although it is a strong contender. There are many hearsay reports that it is much earlier, but no hard evidence has emerged to support them.
See other phrases that were coined in the USA.
The history of “Bad hair day” in printed materials
Trend of bad hair day in printed material over time
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