Oh, and for the record, that commentator has been annoying me for days... he's definitely been showcasing his idiocy. The YouTube clip is one example of an entire slew...

Derogatory words will always (at least in the foreseeable future) exist. We can't socially change that. (Unless we wish to travel the paths of dictatorial societies.)

If we ban, restrict, or demodify language in any way it will just grow, evolve, and spawn into something else - something new. Meaning, for every word we try to blacklist, four more will be produced to take its place. It's a rather cyclonic, downward spiral which leads to banning one word, then four more, then sixteen...

... at the end of the day, we've banned a book. Or four. Or sixteen. Ad infinitum.

"Bitch" is a derivative of the female-dog title, obviously. It is a word used harshly against women (and men) by anger-driven individuals (usually lacking in vocabulary-depth and intellectual, communicative skills). It's also casually used during dog shows, and by English-speaking dog-elitists worldwide.

Some men (mayhap even myself) call their best friends, or even passersby "dog".

"What up, dog?"

Women have been calling men "dog's" for nearly as long as men have been spitting the "bitch" title back at them.

Hence, here we have two simple words - dog and bitch, in several different connotations, both respectively deemed "good" and "bad".

When we talk about words being appropriate or inappropriate, we are really talking about something much bigger than the words themselves - we are talking about the intention and interpretation of the words.

And that is something one just can't dispose of, no matter how hard one wishes to try.

I'm a man that has had many, many nicknames throughout my life - none-of-which were self-given. ("Trench" being the longest-lived.) Some of these names have been "cool", or "flattering", while others have been offensive, mean, and generally birthed of ill-will.

Intention and interpretation.

For a long time I loathed some of these names, and trust me when I say - I wanted them to disappear. But that's rather pointless, eh?

I can't control another person's intent (... can spend a lifetime trying, but that would be in vain, I'm quite sure, not to mention dictatorial)... no, in the end, all I can control is my own interpretation of said intent.

I'm suggesting this all boils down to Self.

How am *I* going to interpret words spoken? How am *I* going to react to a word spoken of ill-intent? How am *I* going to be at peace with *myself* in a world full of uncontrollable intent?

The answer lies in self-intent. The words *I* choose to use, and *my own* intent that fuels them.

In doing this, I am ending the futile struggle of trying to control others, and beginning the achievable struggle of trying to control myself. This is important, because in the end, the only person I truly have dominance over is me.

Language, and the intent behind it, is infectious and spreads quite rapidly (see: lolcat, or lolspeak).

This is not an argument for the usage of derogatory words... it's an example of the appreciation of language, in its entirety, and a celebration of communication - the ability to process thoughts, freely release them, and have them freely interpreted.

I fully believe all words are sacred.

And I offer a warning to those willing to listen... a warning regarding the idea of restricting words, and banning phrases: history-books are made of these things.

For every word restricted and phrase banned we risk restricting the thoughts, ideas, and communications of our ancestors bequeathed unto us.

We will have nothing of our past (both "good" and "bad") to learn from and we will, most likely, be doomed to the further repetition of the very things we are trying to rid society of.

Or, more importantly, the very things we are trying to rid ourselves of.

Ah Joffi...

I guarantee you that if you call me a bitch I will definitely be offended. If I call myself a bitch, not so much. If a commentator on CNN says it's okay to call women bitches, I'll also be offended. It's still sexist. When I see women calling out rat bastards on TV (and I can think of a few), maybe we can have this discussion again. :)

hmm... have to disagree. A commentator, I grant, still should be wary of it. However, just as every woman in my immediate family (there are 5 of them) has called themselves a bitch, I have and will use the term myself from time to time.

In today's lexicon, [i]bitch[/i] is simply the female equivalent of [i]bastard[/i]; neither have retained much of their original meaning and little of the stigma of the curse word they were.