The same word can praise a hit or condemn a flop.
Bomb names an explosive object, but slang sent the word in opposite directions. It can describe a great success, particularly in British use, or a failure. The selected source records the success noun before the failure noun; the two are branches rather than a neat replacement of one meaning by another.
Attestation dates do not prove the exact moment of invention. This trail does not claim that the positive sense caused the negative one. The uncertain deeper borrowing route is omitted.
Sources
- Merriam-Webster: bomb
The entry gives explosive-device, failure and British great-success senses; the distant origin is uncertain.
- Etymonline: bomb
The entry records success from 1954 and failure from 1961, alongside the older explosive noun.