Excellent, outstanding, the best. "That concert was the bomb." Gen-X ancestor of today's "fire" or "slay." Used as direct, no-subtlety praise for food, music, movies, people, experiences.
Enthusiastic praise is a biblical instinct. The Psalmist: "I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Ps 34:1). "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!" (Ps 150:6). Calling good things "the bomb" exercises the muscle of appreciation — a muscle Scripture commands us to develop. Gen X tended to do this casually; Gen-Z often struggles to muster sincere praise at all (default irony). The bomb is better than the shrug. Enthusiastic praise of the good things God has made, no matter how dated the vocabulary, is a small rehearsal for heaven — where we will call Christ the ultimate bomb for eternity.
A direct, earnest superlative. The vocabulary is dated; the enthusiasm is biblical.
Gen X in the 1990s had not yet fully absorbed the ironic detachment that would dominate millennial and Gen-Z speech. They could still say something was "the bomb" with sincerity, without eye-rolling or scare quotes. That capacity for earnest enthusiasm is a small cultural asset Scripture commends and that later generations have largely lost. "I will praise you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart" (Ps 86:12). Whole-hearted praise is not for God only but is the orientation of a grateful Christian soul — the food is good, the song is good, the friendship is good. Say so, plainly. Train young people in sincere enthusiasm. It is closer to heaven than cool indifference.
Psalm 34:1 — "I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Psalm 150:6 — "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!"
Philippians 4:8 — "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Psalm 86:12 — "I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever."
Enthusiastic praise is a biblical instinct. "The bomb" is dated vocabulary for a posture Scripture commends. Better than a generation that cannot muster sincere admiration for anything.
“That pizza place on the corner? Total bomb.”
“I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”