The word 坏话 is formed through a straightforward conceptual combination where the first character 坏 (huài), meaning "bad" or "harmful", directly modifies the second character 话 (huà), meaning "words" or "speech". By placing them together, the compound naturally and intuitively conveys the single idea of "harmful words" or "malicious talk", where the quality of the first element is inherently attributed to the subject of the second.