Link to NY City Council "Bitch & Ho" Resolution

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Wed Aug 8 02:29:14 UTC 2007


>     Just wondering: What is it about a female dog that has made the
> word "bitch" so offensive?  I sense a great injustice here.  Dogs
> (both male and female), albeit with some exceptions, are wonderful animals.

I think it's originally offensive because it means "low" and not
because it means "evil". To be likened to a dog or a bitch is
basically to be disrespected ... I think.

Cf. "work like a dog" (although dogs don't work hard usually), "they
treat me like a dog" (doesn't mean they pet me and take me to the
vet), "died like dogs", etc. The idea is that the dog is low-class or
ignoble (compared to the humans) ... I think.

-- Doug Wilson


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