# How did the word "bitch" come to be associated with ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169 "2016-01-25T12:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/41 "2016-01-26T20:26:23Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > a mix between a German Shepard and a Labrador. Ah the Gershador. A wonderful breed. So loyal and kind. If I ever get another dog it’ll definitely be another Gershador. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/42 "2016-01-26T20:28:37Z")
I don’t think that “bitch” has lost all of its implication of promiscuity. There’s still a “definition” out there that a “slut” is a woman who sleeps with everyone, while a “bitch” is a woman who sleeps with everyone except you. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/43 "2016-01-26T20:47:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think that “bitch” has lost all of its implication of promiscuity. There’s still a “definition” out there that a “slut” is a woman who sleeps with everyone, while a “bitch” is a woman who sleeps with everyone except you. That’s a good one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/44 "2016-01-27T00:42:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think that “bitch” has lost all of its implication of promiscuity. There’s still a “definition” out there that a “slut” is a woman who sleeps with everyone, while a “bitch” is a woman who sleeps with everyone except you. True, but I think it’s the “won’t sleep with you” bit that’s important – that’s what makes the woman (supposedly) mean and thus a bitch. A chaste woman who refuses to sleep with the name-caller might also be described as a bitch, even a frigid bitch. No cite, but I remember reading something once about the shift in meaning of the word “bitch” that said while the term used to mean a woman who was considered _overly_ welcoming of men’s sexual advances, in modern usage it was far more likely to be applied to a woman who had rejected such advances. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/45 "2016-01-27T00:53:51Z")
At least the way it was used in Australia in the last 20 years in my experience, bitch has no connotation one way one or the other about promiscuity, but about personality. Someone was a mean spiteful nasty bitch, and they’d probably also get called a cunt, which is much more freely used in Australia than in the US. If you wanted to imply they were promiscuous you’d call them a slut or a whore, particular used by women on women if they suspected another girl was flirting with their man with intent. Or of course you might go all in and call them a “bitch cunt slut whore” if you were really pissed off. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/46 "2016-01-27T05:29:16Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > No cite, but I remember reading something once about the shift in meaning of the word “bitch” that said while the term used to mean a woman who was considered _overly_ welcoming of men’s sexual advances, in modern usage it was far more likely to be applied to a woman who had rejected such advances. Would it not have to do with societal expectations of sexual freedom for women? In the past, women were required to be chaste, so a bitch would be a woman who went against societal norms. Now, post-Sexual Revolution, there’s been a decided lessening of that in younger generations, so now a bitch is a woman who goes against the (less pervasive, but definitely extant) societal expectation of somewhat liberated sexuality. I predict if, say, bisexuality became the new normal, any woman who was only heterosexually liberated will get called a bitch. And then, when fucking everyone _and_ robots is the norm, bisexual human-only women will be the bitches … Women can’t win, is what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/47 "2016-01-27T12:42:21Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Ah the Gershador. A wonderful breed. So loyal and kind. If I ever get another dog it’ll definitely be another Gershador. I thought you were making fun of me. So I Googled “Gershador” and now I know you were **indeed** making fun of me. I wouldn’t mind ordinarily. But I loved that dog more than most women I’ve ever known. She always treated me better than any of them ever did. Anyway, I actually named her “Gershy” and that was short for “Gershador”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169/48 "2016-01-27T17:48:02Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I thought you were making fun of me. So I Googled “Gershador” and now I know you were **indeed** making fun of me. > > I wouldn’t mind ordinarily. But I loved that dog more than most women I’ve ever known. She always treated me better than any of them ever did. > > Anyway, I actually named her “Gershy” and that was short for “Gershador”. > > 🙂 I think he was just suggesting that the name sounds like a dog breed, like Labrador. Maybe you’d call that making fun of the name, but I think it was in a playful spirit. When **Drunky** wants to mock, you don’t need to Google anything to figure it out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-word-bitch-come-to-be-associated-with/744169.md?page=2)