Being a person who finds language and its evolution fascinating, I naturally enjoyed this article about the use of the word "bitch".

What makes a woman a "bitch"? There seem to be infinite criteria, but only one is really necessary. To be a "bitch," all you have to be is a woman. Any other attributes - positive, negative - are secondary. These days, people use "bitch" when they mean "woman" - it's an insult that attacks the core of one's identity.

These days, men sometimes face the B-word, too. The reason it's insulting to call a man a bitch is the same reason men don't want to, for example, hit the baseball "like a girl." To call a man a bitch is calling him a woman. In our sexist society, that alone is an insult.

A little more background on the history of this word: According to The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, "The word bitch became a naughty word in Christian Europe because it was one of the most sacred titles of the Goddess, Artemis-Diana, leaders of the Scythian alani or 'hunting dogs.'...In Christian terms, 'son of a bitch' was considered insulting not because it meant a dog, but because it meant the devil - that is, a spiritual son of the pagan Goddess."

So basically, a goddess has been turned into a curse word. A true sign of the times.

As is the case with just about any interesting word, I know I have used it in my writings here from time to time. But the article piqued my curiosity enough to do a little grepping and categorizing. I wanted to find out how often I have used the word, and what were the contexts.

It turns out that in the nearly 5 years since I started putting my web writings into this database, there have been 41 instances where I used the word "bitch" (or some variant thereof). Here's the breakdown:

• 15 instances were used to refer to me or something I was doing. (Usually in a context of something like, "tonight, I'm going be bitching about Microsoft's latest nastiness....")
• 10 times, I used the word to describe or refer to a character in a tv show, movie, video game, celebrity, or other figment of the imagination.
• 5 uses applied to the general population in a non-gender-specific manner
• 4 were swearing. i.e. "that heavy box is a bitch to carry."
• 3 times I used to word to describe specific people (always female)
• 3 times when quoting from a lyric or poetic work.
• 1 instance used in a broad context to refer to women in general.

What might be derived from this latest batch of factoids? I don't know, but I thought it was interesting.

(Inevitably, while reading through some of my old content, I also experienced a few What the fuck kind of drugs was I on that night? moments. Those generally tend to make life more interesting too.)