BDA

Synonyms:	Big Dumb Alien
See also:	Clark Kent
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Used in Smallville fandom, BDA stands for "Big Dumb Alien" and is used to refer to Clark Kent (often with intermingled exasperation and fondness).

The acronym was commonly used in Livejournal blogs and communities, particularly around fanworks and episode reviews, discussions or meta. A tiny number of fanworks on Archive of Our Own use BDA-related tags: Clark is a BDA, Clark is a BDA (Big Dumb Alien), and Big Dumb Alien. Whether the tag or a reference of BDA is present in the synopsis or notes of a fanwork, some fans found that some fan authors had a tendency to overemphasis Clark's "big dumb alien" traits.

Fan Usage Examples and Commentary

Partial response to Livejournal user saj_te_gyuhyall's question about why Clark is often portrayed as immature, naive, and 'innocent' in many fanworks:

As others have said, the show portrayed him as young and moody - very prone to blame himself for things that aren't particularly his fault such as the meteor shower. I tend to think fandom has accentuated the BDA (big dumb alien) trait, but being immature certainly helps explain why he has so much trouble dealing with Lex and the whole secret.

As for Kryptonians normally maturing younger, that may be true in certain strains of comic canon but Smallville!Clark is definitely a unique case. He wasn't raised on Krypton and in fact spent two years of his infancy alone in a spaceship, which would tend to have some long term developmental effects methinks no matter how clever the technology. And he was raised as human and desperately wants to fit in so... And he has a whole heat of trauma dropped on him in the pilot alone. What interests me is that in a crisis situation, he immediately drops the mopey teenager and takes the appropriate action.

jlvsclrk 

In an episode review/discussion post for 'Sleeper':

And finally, we have a scene where Chloe figures everything out and explains it to Clark. Because he's just a BDA, I guess. God Bless America, this episode drives me crazy when it comes to the Clark stuff. The hell?!

tariel22 

Example Fanworks Tagged or Described with BDA

• Carry Me Home by simplytoopretty, ^{Archived version} - When recced by lilbreck in chlarkrewrite described as, "While Clark is still playing the role of the BDA in this one, he does eventually get a clue, and the story flows naturally."
• The Sink That Ate Christmas (Archived version) by toomuchplor - When recced by an0ther_dreamer described as, "Clark has a cooking-stress related BDA moment during he and Lex's Perfect Christmas Dinner with the Kents.  The repeated mystified reaction to this BDA moment is hysterical. XD"
• Just Another Day at the Daily Planet by xtremeroswellian - Crack fic with 'Big Dumb Alien' tagged and use of the line within text.