Obviously it’s a word I use a lot. I’m not one to be easily offended by words, after all, words only have the power you give them. To me, the offensiveness of a word lies more in the tone that the speaker uses. If I walk up to a group of my friends (mixed gender expression) and say, “Hey bitches!” I’ll bet you American dollars they won’t care. Or if am telling a story about my fur babies that starts with, “You’ll never guess what the bitches did today,” I promise it will be the same story. You, dear reader, certainly don’t care, as you’ve chosen to read this blog. It isn’t like the time when I worked at an after-school program and a first grader, whose parents were going through a rough divorce, referred to me as a “fucking bitch” as he threw a block at me.
But my whole point here is that most of the time when I am using the word, it is in reference to the female canines that live with me. Perhaps technically, they are altered females, since I decided they wouldn’t be mommas and had them spayed. But I think that is sort of like telling a woman who had a hysterectomy that she is no longer really a woman. Alli and Joey will always be bitches to me. Bitches. The plural of bitch, which, I am using correctly according to Merriam Webster’s website: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bitch .
Definition of BITCH
1
: the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals
2
a : a lewd or immoral woman b : a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman —sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse
3
: something that is extremely difficult, objectionable, or unpleasant
4
: complaint
See bitch defined for English-language learners »
See bitch defined for kids »
Examples of BITCH
1. That word is a bitch to spell.
2.
Origin of BITCH
Middle English bicche, from Old English bicce
First Known Use: before 12th century
Related to BITCH
Synonyms: beef, complaint, bleat, carp, fuss, grievance, gripe, grouch, grouse, grumble, holler, kvetch, lament, miserere, moan, murmur, plaint, squawk, wail, whimper, whine, whinge [British], yammer
So all the synonyms are related to the verb. I guess they didn’t want to put in slut, hussy, or any of the thousands of women of historical/intellectual/spiritual importance from Eve to Hilary Clinton who have had to bear the brunt of its negative meaning.
Interestingly, if you click on the definition of bitch for kids… drumroll…
One entry found for bitch.
Main Entry: bitch
Pronunciation: bich
Function: noun
: a female dog
I guess kids only get to know that a bitch is a girl dog. I couldn’t imagine where they would possibly learn about definitions of bitch other than a student dictionary anyway. I almost want to ask some of those super sheltered, home-schooled kids, like a pack of the Duggars and ask them what a bitch is. They might be on my side…
It isn’t my fault that society has taken a word and made it insulting or negative. I am probably overbearing and immoral to many people, so call me a bitch. I’d wear that title with pride since the same aggressiveness or moral code would make me someone else’s hero.
And you don’t need to call me out, yes, the blog title is a little tongue in cheek. I’m one of those people that should be taken with a shaker of salt at times. My use of bitch is at times playful, at times serious, and most of the time, literal.
So bitches, it’s colder than a bitch tonight, and it’s time for me to go snuggle up with my bitches.
No comments:
Post a Comment