Is bitch a bad word?

Bitch mother come light my bottom.

Bitching is more commonly used as an adjective, as in the following cut and pasted on line.

"it's bitchin' hot, ain't it?".

Isn't that a compound noun, Izzy?

There we go. But straight 'bitch' as an adjective still eludes me, I'm afraid.

You got voted down, Izzy, for helping people to know. What is A2K coming 2?

That's quite finely balanced. I imagine there are those who would argue the toss about that all night. I'm not one of them.

What about bitch slap?

Bitchy is a more common adjectival form.

I get voted down all the time. It's because they don't get me. They're all a bunch of squares and crypto fascists.

That may work.

Like any genius who arrives before his time.

I knew you'd understand Finn.

In the phrase 'bitch session' I believe that bitch is an adjective.

I disagree, Ragman. I would say that it is a compound noun.

Recall vividly the first 'cuss word' I ever heard on commercial tv. Was an episode of M*A*S*H where some general whose son died called "Hawkeye" a son-of-a-bitch. Since then, commercial tv has allowed more and more profanity. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it though. See it at all hours of the day so it isn't restricted to evening hours. Seems to depend most on the channel.

As with exclamations of "Jesus Christ!" context and usage determine whether something's offensive. If as exclamation, most everyone now replaces, bleeps, or otherwise gets rid of it. THis is actually very recent, maybe only a couple years. Seems to suggest Christians are working very hard behind the scenes to get their way.

I find using bword as bad as using n-word. Consider its first use: a female dog used for breeding stock.
Women were owned property for use in the same manner. They were currency between men; the father selling his daughter off to another man. Women did not own or control their own bodies. They, at one point, could not own property or have involvement in making governing policies. Even after receiving the vote, they could not get certain jobs and certainly didn't make fair wage. In the rare event of divorce, they did not retain their children commonly until the 60s. Even today, we still retain echos of old views. We've romanticized the rituals and terms but their origin is of record.
I don't support banning free speech, but I do see how the word is used and find it tacky and a hindrance to forward thought and extending basic respect for others in all the ways the n-word implies. I've heard the "taking back its power" argument for both words (and other slurs) and find it a misguided one. I see the casual use of it or the adoption of it as a word of familiarity among friends as an attempt to dilute the sting of it pointless. It will still mean the same ugly things when used in anger.

"Frankly, Charlotte, I don't give a damn!"