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

Mon Jun 19 11:38:45 EDT 2023

True, but somehow that seems to me quite a different 
characterization--not flattering, but--

Christine

On 6/19/2023 10:36 AM, Neverow, Vara S. wrote:
>
> 😏
>
> 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/suffix//^1 /
>     <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$>,-y/suffix//^1
>     /
>     <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/231078*eid14064830__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x0EnuH_P$>.
>
>     *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$> +
>     -y/suffix//^1 /
>     <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www-oed-com.scsu.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/231078*eid14064830__;Iw!!KGKeukY!3hZxdPgxEz6yJG9_p0JHM_qTIRKJc1p1PeaQ0X-qV-aPKYzBpMDKWDIJX8wQuppVn5bHLLnGeb-ucCndGdm8x0EnuH_P$>.
>
>     ****
>
>     *1.*Of a male dog or its appearance: having characteristics
>     considered typical of females; resembling (that of) a bitch.
>
>     1907 /Outing/July 496/1Where is the dog? One man would say Hard
>     Cash; another would answer that he is too light and bitchy.
>
>     1922 /Dog Fancier/June 17/1His 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. 55Avoid a bitchy ‘pretty
>     pretty dog’ [for stud] no matter how brilliant his show record may be.
>
>     2003 /AKC Gaz./Dec. 58/3The 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. 161They 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. 186There's no need
>     to be bitchy.
>
>     2014 K. Carlisle/High-end Finish/285Jennifer 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. 215It 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
>
>     /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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