Link to NY City Council "Bitch & Ho" Resolution

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 8/7/07, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> Are you referring only to law cases?  "Bitch", noun, in the
> perjorative sense dates from earlier than the 18th century (OED2).
>
> I happen to be on this word because I am tracking down a use of
> "bitch" (verb) = grumble, complain from around 1775 -- OED2 has it as
> 1930- (v.2, sense 3).

Are your 18C attestations clearly in the 'grumble' sense, or could
they possibly mean 'call someone a bitch', as in the 1709 OED cite,
"In wonderful Rage went to Cursing and Bitching"?


--Ben Zimmer

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