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

Mon Jun 19 13:19:54 EDT 2023

Apropos the discussion of Mansfield and Woolf: an example of how they came
together on other important levels.

The recent focus on the personal and literary competition between Mansfield
and Woolf is averted in turning toward their mutual appeal to Chinese
readers and critics. At the same time that architects, fashion designers,
gardeners, department stores began to create their orients manifested in
“chinoiserie,” the writers Katherine Mansfield, Ling Shuhua and Virginia
Woolf were involved in a similar kind of aesthetic exchange, reading,
imagining, and culturally translating each other as they walked across the
narrow bridge of art  to engage in more complex understandings and
experiments with China and Japan.  They read and refracted one another
through the contexts of their own histories and imaginations, and created,
long before it was fashionable, a transnational literary conversation.  It
removes Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury from the postcolonial charge of
xenophobia, snobbism, imperialism, collusion with Empire and the indictment
of modernism; it removes Shuhua and other Chinese writers from the
Socialist critique of their “decadent Western-identified positions” or
attraction to the workings of the imagination, romanticism or fantasy as
being more “real” than the prevalent Chinese literary dogma of the
time—socialist realism”; it removes Mansfield and Woolf from focus on
personal insults and competition. “ Contrapuntal perspectives,” described
by Edward Said, emerge: parallel or discrepant, sympathetic or
oppositional. But the importance, methodologically, is that they play off
each other in literary and cultural relief, dramatizing perspectives that
would otherwise remain hidden. This literary play with its own fanciful and
imagined Chinas and Englands occurs alongside the emerging visual and
cultural chinoiserie.

> excerpt, Laurence, "Shared Affinities: Katherine Mansfield, Ling Shuhua,
> and Virginia Woolf" in *Chinoiserie and Modernism *(2015)

Pat Laurence
Professor Emeritus
City University of New York

On Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 11:37 AM Neverow, Vara S. via Vwoolf <
vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> 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
>
> 😏
>
>
>
> 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
>
>
>
> *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: 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 496/1   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
>
>
>
> *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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