Bitchy \ˈbi-chē\

I was talking to someone (ahem) last night about the word “bitch.” He suggested (aka, stated strongly) that it is a word that is not much used anymore. That it is a word that perhaps people of a certain age or social class do not utter.

I disagreed, and I told him so. Not in a mean-spirited (ie, bitchy) way, it’s just that in my experience this is not the case. I use the word regularly and hear it often.

In fact, when I think about it, bitch is a word that is being used more and more all the time. It’s a word with myriad meanings, some completely contradictory.

It’s actually a very interesting word.

I think most people know that the word originated from the Old English for female dog (bicche). Perhaps one that looks like this?

But it’s most common modern use is for Merriam Webster’s definition number 2: a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman.

Poor Hillary gets the term bitch thrown at her all the time. What’s she to do? She’s powerful, strong, assertive. That BITCH! As Lisa Jervis, cofounder of Bitch Magazine writes and is quoted in the Wahington Post as saying, "If being an outspoken woman means being a bitch, we'll take that as a compliment, thanks."

But there are so many more meanings….

It is a term used by some (hopefully not you) to refer to women in general. For more detail you might want to check out this Bitch Breakdown (but NOT if you’re easily offended.)

The word is also used as a term (albeit a very poor one) for a girlfriend or significant other, as in “Is that your bitch?”

Hell, I’ve even heard girls call their friends bitches, as in “C’mon bitches, lets go!”

Or what about its use to describe weakness or cowardice in a man? Or to not do something out of fear; CHICKEN OUT. For example, “I knew he would bitch out.” This usage is in complete opposition to the overbearing female.

Bitch is also used to signify a servant, subordinate, or inferior competitor. Think prison inmate or on the court, eg, “I made him my bitch on the basketball court.”

Bitch can also be a difficulty, some task you don’t want to perform; "Moving is such a bitch."

Or wait, have you ever flipped a bitch?

(Why the hell we say this I have no idea. Anyone?)

Sticking with the driving motif, there are those who also employ the term bitch to describe the back seat of a motorcycle or the middle seat of a car’s back seat. As in: “You've got to sit bitch.”

(Let me assure you that sitting bitch in this back seat would make me plenty bitchy.)

Bitch can even be a verb; to complain, as in to bitch and moan or to have a bitch session. (Sometimes fun, right?)

My personal favorite use of the term bitch is as an adjective: bitchy. Or what about the much less used, but more-fun-to-say bitchier (comparative) and bitchiest (superlative)?

I use the word bitchy to describe myself quite a bit. I could use the words cranky or grouchy or whiny, but these are the words I use to describe my kids when they’re irritable (or simply irritating me). I’m all grown up, I’m a woman, I’m allowed to curse. I can be bitchy. Can I be the bitchiest? Well, I don’t know. If I put my mind to it, I guess I could.

Here’s a (very) short list of things that make me bitchy:
- hunger
- my kids bad behavior
- PMS
- snide comments by my soon-to-be-ex husband
- people correcting my attempts at pronouncing Italian words

And though I agree with others who point out that there is almost always another word you can replace a curse with, sometimes the acrid bite of a curse is just what you need.

Later, bitches.