English Translation
Oh boy, that’s embarrassing.
What’s the meaning of ばつ here?
@cstuartroe
ばつが悪い is an idiom and we don’t use ばつ alone. ばつ should be always followed by 悪い.
There are some theories, but ばつ is probably a shortened form of 場都合 (pron. ばつごう), and 場都合 is a shortened form of その場の都合 (pron. そのばのつごう). 都合 means either “availability” or “convenience”, so その場の都合 means “convenience under a certain circumstance”.
Another theory is that ばつ derives from 跋, which refers to “the afterword of a book.”
ばつが悪い, therefore, means “that’s not a pleasant situation for me and ended up being awkward.” In other words, “that’s embarrassing” or “that’s awkward.”