# Bitch Slap **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372 "2000-12-27T14:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/1 "2000-12-27T14:38:52Z")
Someone please clarify a couple things: 1. Is the phrase “bitch slap” supposed to only be woman-to-woman, or did it orginate from a man-to-woman slap (or maybe even woman-to-man)? 2. Is it supposed to be a back-handed slap or a open-palmed slap? I’ve heard the phrase, but don’t know exactly what it is supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/2 "2000-12-27T16:37:12Z")
I always understood it to be synonymous with “pimpslap”, and to my knowledge, that is a backhanded slap on the face. Originating with pimps smackin dem ho’s around. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/3 "2000-12-27T16:45:44Z")
I’d go with **mouthbreather** ’s origin. It’s often used by men to talk about bitch slappin’ another man as well. I don’t think it’s used very much to talk about woman-to-woman slapping. ---
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/4 "2000-12-27T16:54:27Z")
I did find a webpage called “BitchSlapping - Ike Turner Style” as part of some pseudo-pimp page, but that doesn’t really tell me if it is back hand or not. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/5 "2000-12-27T18:15:27Z")
Not quite what you’re looking for, but [here’s the officially approved Magliozzi Brothers instructions for delivering a dope slap.](http://cartalk.cars.com/DopeSlap/technique.html) ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/6 "2000-12-27T18:40:01Z")
Apparently, this is a question that is being considered by the authorities: > [@](#): > > Asked over lunch to describe a word whose definition had been giving him trouble, Mr. Sheidlower recounted the difficulty he was having defining the phrase “bitch-slap.” Connotationally, it means to slap a person; specifically, it is to slap a person as a pimp would slap a prostitute. But, he said, one cannot use a simile in a definition. > > Can you bitch-slap a person anywhere or only in the face? he had wondered. With an open hand or the back of the hand? Can you bitch-slap a man or only a woman? Is it to hurt a person? No, it is to show social dominance. “So all of these things have to be taken into account,” Mr. Sheidlower said. “And figuring out that this is what is going on takes thought and discussion.” Jesse Sheidlower is the North American editor of the OED, formerly with Random House (and Jesse’s Word of the Day), and author of _The F Word_. I got this quote from [this site](http://stommel.tamu.edu/~baum/ethel/2000_09_03_ethel-archive.html), and I think it is originally from a _NY Times_ article. ---
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/7 "2000-12-27T19:33:35Z")
in the Demo section of [http://www.bitchslapped.com](http://www.bitchslapped.com) but I don’t know if this is the correct way. Does anyone know a pimp we could ask? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitch-slap/47372/8 "2000-12-27T19:48:14Z")
The best emample of a “Bitch Slap” I can think off is from _Con Air_ when Nick Cage slap the little guy in the blue dress. :eek: