[Vwoolf] Oxford English Dictionary entry--Virginia Stephen is listed as the first to use the word "bitchy"

Mon Jun 19 11:36:46 EDT 2023

😏

Actually, I think what Woolf said about Mansfield was…umm…significantly worse than merely saying “bitch.” She wrote that Mansfield “stinks like a civet cat that had taken to street walking.” Ouch!

And…I should have mentioned that Mark Hussey alerted me to Virginia’s letter…

Vara

Vara Neverow
(pronouns: she/her/hers)
Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies
Editor, Virginia Woolf Miscellany
Southern Connecticut State University
New Haven, CT 06515
203-392-6717
neverowv1 at southernct.edu<mailto:neverowv1 at southernct.edu>

I acknowledge that Southern Connecticut State University was built on traditional territory of the indigenous peoples and nations of the Paugussett and Quinnipiac peoples.

Recent Publications:
Lead editor, Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources (Bloomsbury, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Kathryn Simpson, and Gill Lowe)
Editor, Volume One, 1975-1984, Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources (Bloomsbury, 2020)
Co-editor, The Edinburgh Companion to Virginia Woolf and Contemporary Global Literature (Edinburgh, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Paulina Pająk, Catherine Hollis, and Celiese Lypka)

From: Vwoolf <vwoolf-bounces at lists.osu.edu> on behalf of vwoolf listserve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
Reply-To: Christine Froula <cfroula at northwestern.edu>
Date: Monday, June 19, 2023 at 11:25 AM
To: vwoolf listserve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] Oxford English Dictionary entry--Virginia Stephen is listed as the first to use the word "bitchy"

Thanks, Vara--I remember having to intervene when a writer I was editing alleged that VW had referred to Katherine Mansfield as a bitch. I'm sure VW never did that, and now I'm laughing at her lexically groundbreaking self-characterization

Thanks, Vara--I remember having to intervene when a writer I was editing alleged that VW had referred to Katherine Mansfield as a bitch. I'm sure VW never did that, and now I'm laughing at her lexically groundbreaking self-characterization of mood if she doesn't get her afternoon walk in!

cheers,

Christine

ps of course VW loved Dogs and referred to the model for Flush as a bitch--which she was; a gift from VSWest

On 6/19/2023 10:16 AM, Neverow, Vara S. via Vwoolf wrote:
bitchy, adj. Pronunciation: Brit. Hear pronunciation/ˈbɪtʃi/ , U. S. Hear pronunciation/ˈbɪtʃi/ Forms: see bitch n. 1 and -y suffix1. Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: 
bitchy, adj.
Pronunciation: [Image removed by sender.] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://public-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/how-to-use-the-oed/key-to-pronunciation/__;!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8xz8RTn52$>
Brit.<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://public-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/how-to-use-the-oed/key-to-pronunciation/key-to-pronunciation-british-english/__;!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x3dzOZv3$> Hear pronunciation/ˈbɪtʃi/
,
U.S.<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://public-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/how-to-use-the-oed/key-to-pronunciation/key-to-pronunciation-US-english/__;!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8xyqXhq_6$> Hear pronunciation/ˈbɪtʃi/
Forms:  see bitch n.1<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/19524*eid19477483__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8xw2J4Gus$>   and -y suffix1<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/231078*eid14064830__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x0EnuH_P$>.
Frequency (in current use):  Show frequency band information<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/frequencybandinformation/4__;!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x0AUJUZc$>
Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: bitch n.1<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/19524*eid19477483__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8xw2J4Gus$>, -y suffix1<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/231078*eid14064830__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x0EnuH_P$>.
Etymology: < bitch n.1<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/19524*eid19477483__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8xw2J4Gus$> + -y suffix1<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/231078*eid14064830__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x0EnuH_P$>.

 1. Of a male dog or its appearance: having characteristics considered typical of females; resembling (that of) a bitch.
1907   Outing July 496/1   Where is the dog? One man would say Hard Cash; another would answer that he is too light and bitchy.
1922   Dog Fancier June 17/1   His coat altho good as to quality was some lacking in cape and frill, giving him a rather bitchy appearance.
1961   C. H. D. Todd Pop. Whippet iv. 55   Avoid a bitchy ‘pretty pretty dog’ [for stud] no matter how brilliant his show record may be.
2003   AKC Gaz. Dec. 58/3   The judge finds that he [sc. the dog] is weedy, fine boned, and small ribbed. Let's say he looks bitchy.
 2. colloquial.

 a. Engaging in or characterized by spiteful criticism; malicious, catty.The meaning in quot. 1908<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/19530?redirectedFrom=bitchy&print*eid1011886391__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x6dMLg16$>   appears to be closer to ‘bad-tempered, irritable’.
1908   V. Woolf Let. 20 Aug. (N.Y. Public Libr., Berg Coll., Woolf Papers, Box 465, Folder 2)   If I am to go out, & I get bitchy if I stay in, I must tramp now, in my great boots & water proof.
1934   E. Shaler Wake & find Stranger xviii. 161   They blamed her for not getting me a job with Maxie, which was their way of being bitchy.
1958   P. Mortimer Daddy's gone a-Hunting xxxiii. 186   There's no need to be bitchy.
2014   K. Carlisle High-end Finish 285   Jennifer and Whitney were best friends and confided in each other their deepest, bitchiest secrets.

 b. Sexually provocative, lewd. Now rare.
1928   A. Huxley Point Counter Point xii. 215   It was different in the past... The liveliness wasn't..so exclusively bitchy, to put it bluntly.
1933   E. A. Robertson Ordinary Families iv. 65   Ronald said proudly that the bits not dull were bawdy... Lester pronounced them ‘bitchie’, having..acquired the term from an American art critic.

With a giggle,

Vara

Vara Neverow
(she/her/hers)
Professor, English Department
Editor, Virginia Woolf Miscellany
Southern Connecticut State University
New Haven, CT 06515
203-392-6717
neverowv1 at southernct.edu<mailto:neverowv1 at southernct.edu>

I acknowledge that Southern Connecticut State University was built on traditional territory of the indigenous peoples and nations of the Paugussett and Quinnipiac peoples.

Recent Publications:

Lead editor, Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources (Bloomsbury, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Kathryn Simpson, and Gill Lowe); Editor, Volume One, 1975-1984, Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources (Bloomsbury, 2020); Co-editor, The Edinburgh Companion to Virginia Woolf and Contemporary Global Literature (Edinburgh, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Paulina Pająk, Catherine Hollis, and Celiese Lypka)

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