“Bad blood” refers to deteriorated relationships due to perceived or actual injury. It can occur between family, friends, or businesses. It can be carried for years without retaliation. Factors such as money, relationships, and beliefs can cause rifts that poison other relationships.
“Bad blood” is a common idiom among English speakers. Typically, the term is used to refer to any situation in which relationships between two or more parties have deteriorated to the point where positive interaction is difficult, if not impossible. This type of expression can be related to difficulties that exist between family members, friends, and even business competitors. The basis of bad blood normally has to do with actual or perceived actions that have caused some type of injury to the other party, resulting in a breakdown in the ability to communicate and interact cordially.
With its origins in the early 19th century, the idea of bad blood is often associated with a breakdown in communication between members of a family unit. For example, surviving children of a deceased parent may be unhappy with some of the terms found in the parent’s will and project that displeasure onto siblings they perceive as having manipulated the parent in some way. Other times, bad blood may be due to specific actions taken by one family member that anger or upset other family members, such as entering a marriage or relationship that others do not consider appropriate.
The incidence of bad blood in the business world is also evident. Companies can develop bad blood with each other due to views on the business practices employed by the other. In some cases, a hostile takeover attempt will generate negative feelings, even if the effort is ultimately unsuccessful. Grooming valued employees is another reason poor relationships exist between companies, as well as capturing a significant number of customers or otherwise undermining a company’s position within the market.
While the presence of bad blood is often associated with an eventual cycle of violence, it is possible to carry a grudge for a number of years without attempting any sort of retaliation against the other party involved. For example, divorced couples may harbor a lot of animosity toward each other but choose not to act on those negative feelings out of concern for the children they might share. Similarly, a sibling may harbor a great deal of grudge against a brother or sister but choose to seek counseling to learn how to deal with that animosity rather than use it to make trouble for that relative.
Bad blood between relatives, friends, and even business can occur for a variety of reasons. Factors such as money, other relationships, business practices, or religious or philosophical beliefs can lead to a rift between people that seems impossible to mend. Until strategies are developed to reopen the lines of communication and come to some sort of reconciling terms, the malaise has the potential to poison other relationships, leaving everyone negatively affected.
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