Stewie Griffin is the infant villain-turned-antihero of Family Guy, the long-running animated sitcom known for its cutaway jokes and Stewie's elaborate schemes. The phrase time to be bad fits his early persona perfectly, which is why it travelled from television clips onto soundboards, meme edits and short-form videos. Creators reuse it as shorthand for a sudden switch to mischief, because the character and his voice are recognised instantly even by viewers who do not follow the show closely. Its brevity also makes it easy to drop into almost any edit.