Wordwatch? He-bitch

[Benjamin Barrett]

FWIW, I can remember using bitch for good friends in high school in 1984
that way.

Benjamin Barrett
gogaku at ix.netcom.com

------Original Message-----
-From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On
-Behalf Of P2052 at AOL.COM
-
-
-Lately, I have heard males being referred to as , "bitch."  The
-first time I
-heard this, I simply dismissed it as either a mistake or the speaker's
-attempting to be humorous.  However, with subsequent uses (by
-others, as well
-as by the same speaker), I determined from the situational context
-that this
-was something borrowed from the homosexual community (I've often heard gay
-males refer to each other as "bitch" or
-"Miss Thang.") Even more confusing (at least, the first time I
-heard it) was
-their referring to each other, using 3rd person singular, feminine pronouns
-(she, her, hers, and herself.)
-                    PAT