Source: Wikipedia

Bitch, literally meaning a female dog, is a pejorative slang word for a person—usually a woman—who is belligerent, unreasonable, malicious, a control freak, rudely intrusive or aggressive. When applied to a man, bitch is a derogatory term for a subordinate. Its original use as a vulgarism, documented from the fifteenth century, suggested high sexual desire in a woman, comparable to a dog in heat. The range of meanings has expanded in modern usage. In a feminist context, it can indicate a strong or assertive woman.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term bitch comes from the Old English word bicce or bicge, meaning "female dog", which dates to around 1000 CE*.

The slang term is one of the most common curse words in the English language (in the top ten curse words). 

* Common Era (CE) is one of the notation systems for the world's most widely used calendar era. CE is an alternative to AD (anno Domini, "in [the] year of [the] Lord").

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Now, just to be fair, what’s the word for a man who is belligerent, unreasonable, malicious, a control freak, rudely intrusive or aggressive… :)

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A note to the men:

Real men don’t use derogatory, disparaging or pejorative words when speaking of people.

If the forgoing is not clear, look up the definition of a “gentleman”.

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Mr Troglodyte... NO, you were not impolite or disrespectful. In fact, you were quite right in what you said, but oddly enough, you shouldn't have said it... :)

Hi Trog, don't feel bad. At times it is okay to be innocent. I use that occasionally, that word when the person really deserves it.

I have a few observations. First, aren't dogs way better than some people regardless of gender? Second, if a certain type of woman can be described as a bitсh, why are their male counterparts called bаstаrds instead of dogs? Third, as per original definition as "a child of unwed parents" <em>bаstаrd </em>is a gender neutral word, so why is it always used for male subjects? And finally, the social custom of marriage has lost / is losing its appeal at many places, so is the original meaning of bаstаrd even relevant now?

Hi Troglodyte,

Children sometimes fall in similar mistakes as they don’t recognize all the words that’s often used by adults. May be we can consider your short story as tragi-comedy 😅.

This word was used a lot by Jessie in the well known series Breaking Bad.

@Richard’s comment is so informative as usual thanks.

Funny story, Trog! Yeah, unless you’re at a dog-breeding convention or dog-show (or is it more PC to say canine beauty contest?), it’s probably best these days to avoid the word “bitch”. Sad but true.